Strive Masiyiwa, the richest businessman in Zimbabwe, is more than just your average billionaire. Econet Wireless, the phone company he started in 1993, was one of the first to use mobile phones and changed the way people in the country talked to each other. Higherlife Foundation, which he and his wife, Tsitsi, set up, has helped more than 250,000 poor children get an education. People have called him the “Bill Gates of Africa” because of his business skills and good deeds.
Who is Masiyiwa, besides the businessman and philanthropist? How does he spend his money, and what did it take for him to become a billionaire?
1. He almost joined the military
Strive Masiyiwa, London-based Zimbabwean billionaire. Photo: @wallstreet_god/TwitterMasiyiwa was born in Rhodesia, which is now called Zimbabwe. When he was seven, his parents left the country because of political unrest after the white minority government declared independence from Britain in 1965. According to Business Insider South Africa, his family moved to Zambia first, but they were able to send him to a Scottish boarding school for his secondary education. There, he met the son of a neighbor and went to school together in Edinburgh.
Strive Masiyiwa receiving his honorary degree at Yale University. Photo: @strivemasiyiwa/Instagram
In 1978, he went back to Zimbabwe and was eager to join the army to fight against minority rule. But his plans fell through because the war was already over. Masiyiwa then went to the University of Wales to study engineering.2. His legal battle took him half a decade
Strive Masiyiwa at one of his talks on entrepreneurship. Photo: @fbicoach1/Instagram
It was not easy for Masiyiwa to become a billionaire. After he started Econet in 1993, Zimbabwe’s government under Robert Mugabe gave him a lot of trouble. He took the government to court, and the case lasted five years and almost put him out of business. But in the end, he got the license he needed to start his network. Today, the company is a leader in mobile communications, but Masiyiwa had to leave Zimbabwe and move to South Africa in 2000 because he was being harassed so much.3. He owns a bevy of million-dollar properties
Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwean billionaire called the “Bill Gates of Africa”. Photo: @greedysouth/InstagramForbes says Masiyiwa has a fortune of about $2.7 billion, and he has spent a lot of money on luxury properties in the past. In 2014, it was said that the African billionaire rented a $40,000 apartment at 737 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Then, in 2016, he spent $24.5 million to buy two penthouses at the prestigious Eldorado Tower.
737 Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York, where Strive Masiyiwa rented a flat in 2014. Photo: @yolostercom/Instagram
In 2010, Masiyiwa moved to Britain, where he lives in a £2.5 million (US$3.3 million) mansion on an exclusive private estate in Surrey.
4. He sticks to a strict fitness routine and diet
Strive Masiyiwa and his wife, Tsitsi. Photo: @famous_magzim/Instagram
On Facebook in 2018, Strive recalled how on holiday in 2004 he almost passed out after carrying one of his daughters upstairs on his back. His doctor told him he was overweight and had high blood pressure. So he vowed to make some lifestyle changes.
He went on to share how he started to exercise and changed his diet, reducing his meat consumption and opting for fish, fruit and vegetables. According to him, the last time he ate chips and pizza was in 2004.
5. His daughter runs a luxury property in South Africa
Strive Masiyiwa’s daughter, Vimbai. Photo: @VimbaiMasiyiwa/Twitter
Strive’s daughter Vimbai seems to be doing what he did. She runs Batoka Zambezi Sands River Lodge as the executive director of Batoka Hospitality Group, which runs Batoka Zambezi Sands River Lodge.
The lodge has been fixed up by the company to attract tourists. It will reopen in March. House & Garden says that the 24-bed lodge has 10 standard suites that each have their own pool and a view of the Zambezi River.