Econet has been making a lasting difference for Africa. Its founder writes, “We didn’t wake up and say we wanted to make billions of dollars; we said we wanted to extend telecommunications to all the people in Africa.”

Strive Masiyiwa is a mobile telecoms giant and Zimbabwe’s richest man. He is the founder of Econet Wireless, a company that provides telecommunication services to more than 15 countries on and beyond the African continent. His initial attempts to begin in entrepreneurship were met with hostility from his government, which had a monopoly on communications services at the time. Eventually the government conceded, and demand for his product exploded. Masiyiwa TOLD Forbes magazine that praying hard and giving back are two key elements to his entrepreneurial strategies. To complement this, he also co-runs a Christian charity that has sponsored education, food, and healthcare for more than 28,000 Zimbabwean orphans.