Latest news with #StriveMasiyiwa
Business Insider
21-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Aliko Dangote, alongside other African billionaires listed in TIME's top 100 philanthropists
Philanthropy is becoming an increasingly powerful force in Africa, with African billionaires taking the lead in addressing critical developmental challenges. Philanthropy is gaining significance in Africa, driven by billionaire efforts. Prominent philanthropists include Aliko Dangote, Patrice Motsepe, Strive Masiyiwa, and Mo Ibrahim. These individuals implement culturally sensitive and context-specific initiatives. While many African countries continue to suffer from widespread poverty, underfunded healthcare systems, educational inequity, and inadequate infrastructure, a surge of billionaire-led philanthropy is making a real difference in a variety of sectors. African billionaires like Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, Patrice Motsepe of South Africa, Strive Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, and Mo Ibrahim of Sudan have emerged as some of the most committed philanthropists on the continent. Africa's philanthropy is distinguished by its deeply personal and localized nature. These billionaires are not just passive donors; they are often intimately familiar with the problems they are attempting to solve, having either grown up or spent significant time in the communities they support. This proximity enables them to design initiatives that are context-specific, culturally sensitive, and more likely to produce long-term results. Beyond cash donations, these philanthropists are instilling a culture of giving in Africa's emerging middle class, entrepreneurs, and diaspora groups. There is a growing recognition that long-term development in Africa must be led locally, and philanthropy is increasingly seen as a critical tool for achieving this. Despite these good tendencies, difficulties persist. Many African charitable organizations continue to encounter legal barriers, limited access to data for effect measurement, and challenges in mobilizing domestic resources at scale. However, the influence of billionaire donors is assisting in overcoming some of these barriers by bringing attention to concerns and encouraging policy discussions. With that said, here are Africa's top philanthropists, and their efforts, according to TIME. Top 3 African philanthropists Aliko Dangote: "Business magnate Aliko Dangote, founder, president and CEO of the Dangote Group, built a net worth of $23.9 billion through cement, agriculture, and oil refining operations in Nigeria. His Aliko Dangote Foundation, which he endowed with $1.25 billion in 2014, aims to give back to the continent that facilitated his success, spending an average of $35 million a year on programs across Africa." Tsitsi Masiyiwa and Strive Masiyiwa: "Guided by their deep Christian faith, Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa and his wife Tsitsi, a social entrepreneur, have devoted much of the estimated $1.2 billion fortune he has amassed through the telecommunications company to empowering Africa's people. Originally from Zimbabwe, the couple launched their HigherLife Foundation in 1996 to provide educational support to orphaned children from their native country. Today, the organization— together with Delta Philanthropies, which the Masiyiwas founded in 2017—focuses on education, health, disaster relief, and rural entrepreneurship initiatives to help communities across Africa thrive. It has so far supported over 250,000 people with scholarships and leadership training, while investing $100 million on job creation and $60 million on health care and crisis response. Strive is also the former chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which promotes sustainability efforts for Africa's small farmers." Yousriya Loza-Sawiris: "Yousriya Loza-Sawiris, the matriarch of one of Egypt's wealthiest families—their business interests span telecommunications, construction, technology, and tourism—has spent over 40 years leveraging her family's power and influence to create pathways out of poverty for marginalized Egyptians. Involved in philanthropic initiatives since 1984, Loza-Sawiris formalized the family's efforts to help Egyptians living in poverty as the founding chair of their Sawiris Foundation for Social Development in 2001.
Time Magazine
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time Magazine
Tsitsi Masiyiwa and Strive Masiyiwa
Guided by their deep Christian faith, Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa and his wife Tsitsi, a social entrepreneur, have devoted much of the estimated $1.2 billion fortune he has amassed through the telecommunications company to empowering Africa's people. Originally from Zimbabwe, the couple launched their HigherLife Foundation in 1996 to provide educational support to orphaned children from their native country. Today, the organization— together with Delta Philanthropies, which the Masiyiwas founded in 2017—focuses on education, health, disaster relief, and rural entrepreneurship initiatives to help communities across Africa thrive. It has so far supported over 250,000 people with scholarships and leadership training, while investing $100 million on job creation and $60 million on health care and crisis response. Strive is also the former chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which promotes sustainability efforts for Africa's small farmers. In May, Tsitsi announced Delta Philanthropies' role as a founding donor for the nearly $500 million Beginnings Fund, which seeks to improve newborn and maternal health across the continent. 'Travelling and connecting with communities through my philanthropic work, I've seen the transformative impact of investing in our people,' Tsitsi posted on LinkedIn. 'I feel a quiet call—not a burden, but an invitation—to do more to foster a culture of ownership and accountability, empowering us to shape a better future.'
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cassava Technologies to invest $720m in African AI factory with Nvidia-report
Cassava Technologies is preparing to invest up to $720m to establish Africa's first AIfactory, which will be developed in collaboration with US-based GPU manufacturer Nvidia, Bloomberg has reported. The pan-African technology firm, founded by Zimbabwean telecoms entrepreneur Strive Masiyiwa, aims to roll out Nvidia's accelerated computing and AI software across several African countries, including South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco. The publication cited Cassava president and group chief executive Hardy Pemhiwa as saying in an interview: 'If we don't take the first step to deploy our own capital, however limited it may be, we can't expect others to go first. This is about ensuring that Africa doesn't get left behind.' South Africa will be the first country to host the AI-powered data centres, the publication added. The initial phase will see the deployment of 3,000 of Nvidia's graphic processing units (GPUs) by June 2025. Pemhiwa said: 'We intend over the next three to four years to install 12,000 of them across Africa, starting with the 3,000 in South Africa. 'The GPUs themselves are like laying fiber, the investment is really about building the whole AI ecosystem.' The cost of a single GPU is estimated to range between $45,000 and $60,000. Nvidia currently controls approximately 93% of the global GPU market. Pemhiwa added that one of the benefits of the partnership is the potential to sell surplus computing capacity to other Nvidia cloud clients globally. 'There isn't anybody that has built an ecosystem beyond GPUs and the AI factory is basically the main thing that Nvidia does throughout the world,' he added. The AI infrastructure will be made available to researchers in universities, technology start-ups, developers, and governments, with sectors such as healthcare and financial technology among the key focus areas. In March 2025, Nvidia held talks to acquire Lepton AI, a company specialising in renting out servers powered by Nvidia's AI chips in a deal valued at several hundred million dollars. "Cassava Technologies to invest $720m in African AI factory with Nvidia-report" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Bloomberg
07-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nvidia, Cassava's AI Factory in Africa Tie-Up to Cost $720 Million
Cassava Technologies may invest as much as $720 million in Africa's first artificial intelligence factory that will be built by Nvidia Corp. The pan-African technology firm founded by Zimbabwean telecoms tycoon Strive Masiyiwa plans to deploy accelerated computing and AI software from the US company into South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco.
Egypt Independent
03-04-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
Africa's first ‘AI factory' could be a breakthrough for the continent
CNN — There's excitement bubbling in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the There's excitement bubbling in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the Global AI Summit on Africa , which opens today, promising economic opportunities and innovation. Not least because of last week's announcement from Cassava Technologies, a tech firm founded by Zimbabwean telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, that it would be building Africa's first 'artificial intelligence factory,' in partnership with leading AI chipmaker Nvidia. Nvidia's supercomputers, which use graphic processing units, or GPUs, (the chips that often power AI), will be deployed at Cassava's data centers in South Africa from as early as June, before being rolled out across the company's other facilities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Africa has fallen behind the global AI boom due in part to a lack of computing power. Analysis from Zindi, a community of 80,000 AI builders across 52 African countries, found that only five percent of Africa's AI practitioners have access to computational power for research and innovation. Better access to GPUs will help to 'drive the AI revolution' across the continent, says Alex Tsado, founder and director of Alliance4AI, a non-profit that helps African institutions adopt emerging technologies. Currently, there are no big GPU clusters in Africa and this is holding innovators back: 'If you don't have access to GPUs, it takes you many more hours, if not days, to build the same solutions (or AI systems) than it would take someone else who is in a place where they do have access (like the US or Europe),' he tells CNN. 'People start to see more reasons to gather data, because now they can process it; people start to see more reasons to train talent, because now there's GPUs … (It) triggers the ecosystem to accelerate all the progress that they've already been making.' While Cassava is yet to divulge details of its deployment plan, it said in a press release that Nvidia's GPU-based supercomputers will enable faster AI model training and that the data centers will ensure businesses and researchers have access to the AI computing power required to build, train, scale and deploy AI in a secure environment. 'Our AI factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs — and now, they don't have to look beyond Africa to get it,' said Masiyiwa in the press release. Democratizing AI The high cost of hardware relative to income levels in Africa has been one of the main barriers to AI adoption. Some of Nvidia's most powerful GPUs sell for as much as $40,000. According to AI4D, an African AI development program, the price of buying a GPU in Kenya represents 75% of GDP per capita, making it 31 times more expensive than one in Germany, in relative terms. This has led to a heavy reliance on foreign cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure – but these too are expensive, since it costs more, and takes longer, to transmit data between geographical regions. For Zindi's network of AI builders, the development of local data centers with Nvidia GPU-powered supercomputers will be a 'game-changer,' according to Celina Lee, its CEO and co-founder. 'By establishing Africa-based AI infrastructure, 'Zindians' would benefit from more affordable compute resources, faster access to AI tools, and lower latency, making it easier to develop and deploy AI models efficiently,' she says. Nvidia's graphic processing units (GPUs) enable the training and deployment of complex AI models. Joel Sagat/AFP/Getty Images Use of Nvidia's cutting-edge technology – the same that is used by OpenAI, Tesla, Meta, Google and other tech giants – will be a great equalizer, she adds: 'This would democratize AI development, strengthen local AI ecosystems, and drive innovation across industries like agriculture, healthcare, and financial services, enabling more homegrown solutions tailored to Africa's unique challenges.' It could also help to increase Africa's representation in global AI training datasets. Currently, African languages and dialects are underrepresented due to a lack of data and there are often biases in training data, such as facial recognition systems that struggle with darker skin tones. 'With increased access to AI infrastructure, African practitioners could train models using local datasets that better represent diverse demographics, economic systems, and environments,' says Lee. Tsado notes that there are still questions around how Cassava will overcome infrastructure challenges when building the factories – for instance Africa's unreliable power grids, which have put people off doing this earlier. And beyond access to GPUs there are still challenges with African end users running AI models efficiently because of their reliance on lower-grade smartphones with limited access to internet apps, says Lee. But both agree that Cassava's move is a big step in the right direction. 'This is a very welcome boost that Africa's big tech is finally joining the African AI communities … and spending some money on GPUs,' says Tsado. 'Strive (Masiyiwa)'s announcement is the first big public commitment that's been made, and it can trigger other people like him to do the same.'
