Strive Masiyiwa, born on January 29, 1961, in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), is a London-based Zimbabwean billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of Econet Global and Cassava Technologies, leading international technology groups. As of January 2025, Forbes estimates his net worth at US$2.7 billion.

At the age of seven, Masiyiwa's family left Rhodesia following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Prime Minister Ian Smith's government. They settled in Kitwe, Zambia, where he attended primary school before completing his secondary education in Scotland. His parents, successful entrepreneurs, provided him with a European education, sending him to a private school in Edinburgh. After graduating in 1978, Masiyiwa returned to Rhodesia intending to join anti-government guerrilla forces but soon decided to pursue higher education in Britain. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wales in 1983 and briefly worked in the computer industry in Cambridge before returning to Zimbabwe in 1984 to contribute to the country's post-war recovery.

Upon his return to Zimbabwe, Masiyiwa worked for the state-owned telephone company, Zimbabwe Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (ZPTC). He later established his own engineering services company, which he sold to found Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in 1993. Facing initial resistance from the Zimbabwean government, which denied Econet a telephone license, Masiyiwa embarked on a five-year legal battle that culminated in a landmark constitutional decision in his favor. This ruling effectively ended the state monopoly on telecommunications and is considered a pivotal moment in opening Africa's telecommunications sector to private investment. The first Econet Wireless subscriber was connected to the new network in 1998.