CEO and founder of the Econet Wireless group, present in some 20 African countries, Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe's richest man (more than 600 million dollars in 2016, according to Forbes), will soon arrive in Cameroon. At least with fiber optics. He affirmed this in Kigali, Rwanda on December 8, 2019 while participating in the Kusi Ideas festival organized by the Nation Media Group on the theme: "The Next 60 years in Africa".  

After leading a panel with President Paul Kagame to boost young African innovators, Strive Masiyiwa said that the quality of leadership in Africa today makes him optimistic. Because, he said, each of the African presidents he met validated his group's vision for building digital infrastructures.

For example, he tells an anecdote with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. "I still remember it. During a visit to Rwanda, President Kagame told me "you built the fibre optic around South Africa". I said yes. And he replied: "What do you need to install and deploy fibre optics to Cairo, Egypt? How can I help you? ». Then he started making phone calls to contact people. And before the end of his term as current president of the African Union, we managed to install fibre optics to Cairo, Egypt," says the businessman.

In Cameroon...

President Kagame did not stop there. Another day, still sitting in the Rwandan President's office, he asked him again: "Since you are already in Cairo, what about West Africa? How can I help you get to West Africa? And Strive Masiyiwa replied: "Is it possible to help us deploy fibre optics from Sudan to Nigeria? As always, President Paul Kagame helped him achieve this. "And we did it. Today, we are in Cameroon. And speaking of Cameroon, President Kagame asked me: "Once in Nigeria, I hope you will arrive in Cameroon...". And today, we are in Cameroon. We hope to arrive in Cameroon in the coming months," said the Zimbabwean tycoon, boss of the Econet group.

Source: digitalbusinessafrica.com