Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa’s net worth has risen to US $2.3 billion from $1.6 billion last year, according to Forbes Africa, making him the 8th richest man on the continent.
Forbes has just compiled its annual list of the richest Africans.
Strive shares the 8th spot with Angolan Isabel dos Santos, Egypt’s Mohamed Mansour, and the South Africans Koos Bekker and Patrice Motsepe.
The number one slot is maintained by Nigerian cement billionaire Aliko Dangote for the 8th year in a row.
Dangote is now worth $10.3 billion.
According to Forbes:
“Among the few on the list who are richer than a year ago is Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, worth an estimated $2.3 billion, up from $1.6 billion last year. He’s richer due to a rise in the share price of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and a new investment that boosted the value of his stake in fiber optic and satellite services firm Liquid Telecom.
“…he owns just over 50% of the publicly-traded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which is one part of his larger Econet Group. Masiyiwa also owns just over half of private company Liquid Telecom, which provides fiber optic and satellite services to telecom firms across Africa.
“His other assets include stakes in mobile phone networks in Burundi and Lesotho, and investments in fintech and power distribution firms in Africa. He and his wife Tsitsi founded the Higherlife Foundation, which supports orphaned and poor children in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Burundi and Lesotho.”
Forbes said Masiyiwa is included on the list even though he’s based in London because of his expansive telecom holdings in Africa.