Zimbabwe’s richest man Strive Masiyiwa gains $700 million in 27 days

Omokolade Ajayi -

After a staggering wealth decline in 2022, Zimbabwe’s richest man Strive Masiyiwa has seen a significant increase in his net worth since the start of 2023 thanks to a strong rebound in the shares of his publicly traded companies.

According to Forbes, the Zimbabwean billionaire, who ranks as the second-richest Black individual in Southern Africa behind mining mogul Patrice Motsepe, has experienced a $700-million increase in net worth since the start of 2023.

Data tracked by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Masiyiwa’s net worth has risen by $700 million in the past 27 days, from $1.2 billion at the start of the year to $1.9 billion at the time of writing this report. This comes after his net worth slumped by $1.5 billion in 2022, from $2.7 billion at the start of the year to $1.2 billion at the end.

The recent increase in his wealth figures above $1.9 billion can be attributed to the strong performance of his publicly traded businesses on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, specifically Econet Zimbabwe and EcoCash Holdings.

Strive Masiyiwa owns 52.85 percent of Econet Zimbabwe, the country’s largest telecom services provider, as well as 30 percent of EcoCash Holdings.

He also has a $145-million equity position in Liquid Intelligent through his ownership of Econet Global, a diversified telecom group with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, South America, and the East Asia-Pacific Rim.

Strive Masiyiwa’s wealth is protected from currency fluctuations thanks to these investments, as well as those in Distributed Power Technologies, Africa Data Centers, Sasai Fintech, and Cassava Remit.

To meet the region’s growing demand, Africa Data Centers (ADC), a leading carrier-neutral data center provider owned by Masiyiwa, announced plans to build its first data center in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, in November 2022. Construction on the new data center facility, which will have a capacity of two megawatts of IT load, will begin in the first quarter of 2023.

The news comes on the heels of the opening of a 30-megawatt data center in Accra, Ghana, and the construction of a second 20-megawatt data center in Cape Town, one of South Africa’s three capital cities, as part of a concerted effort to position the continent as the leader in digital services and solution providers.