Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Group, including Cassava Technologies and Econet Wireless, has issued a compelling call to action for Africa’s youth to harness artificial intelligence (AI) as the continent’s next economic frontier.
In his Linkedin newsletter tagged “#Reflection: A brave new world in progress Don’t be afraid… Be brave!” and from his visionary perspective honed through decades of building telecom giants across Africa, Masiyiwa drew a striking parallel between AI and the historical taming of fire, arguing that just as early humans transformed fire into a tool for progress—powering cars, airplanes, and even space rockets—AI holds similar transformative potential, despite its inherent dangers akin to guns or electricity.
This bold stance was reiterated during his recent keynote at the #UnstoppableAfrica event in New York, where he predicted that within a decade, Africa’s richest individuals will emerge not from traditional industrialists like Aliko Dangote, Patrice Motsepe, or himself, but from a new wave of AI-driven billionaires.
Masiyiwa, whose influence spans 18 countries through Cassava Technologies’ digital infrastructure and Econet Wireless’ connectivity solutions, pointed to global trends as evidence, citing the meteoric rise of figures like Jensen Huang of NVIDIA and Sam Altman of OpenAI in the U.S., as well as China’s DeepSeek and Manus, whose founders now rival the stature of Jack Ma. He noted that even established billionaires like Larry Ellison, Elon Musk, and tech titans at Google and Microsoft are pivoting to AI, signaling a seismic shift.
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“You have not yet heard of the AI-preneurs who will dominate Africa’s wealth lists, but they are already at work—some may even be among you following this platform,” Masiyiwa declared on LinkedIn, urging aspiring innovators to start learning and coding now.
He envisions these future leaders bypassing “tenderpreneur” models for government contracts, instead leveraging AI for groundbreaking advancements in education, health, agriculture, and beyond, with the potential to outstrip current fortunes while prioritizing humanity’s good—a vision he supports with free training resources shared via his Facebook Afterthoughts, inviting community suggestions to fuel this movement.
