Billionaire Strive Masiyiwa joined South Africa's president at Google's first Africa cloud summit as the continent races to catch the AI wave

Strive Masiyiwa, the Zimbabwean billionaire founder of Econet Group, joined South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Google Senior Vice President James Manyika at the inaugural Google Cloud Summit in Africa, held at the Sandton Convention Centre on July 1, 2026, as one of the continent's most high-profile gatherings of technology leaders, policymakers and business executives around the theme of cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

The summit, held under the theme "Google Cloud is Building for Africa," was opened by Ramaphosa, who used the platform to make the case for Africa's readiness to participate in the global digital economy at a moment when cloud infrastructure investment and AI deployment have moved from aspiration to operational reality across a growing number of African markets. Masiyiwa's presence at the event reflects his longstanding position at the intersection of African technology entrepreneurship and global technology policy.

Manyika, who was born in Zimbabwe and serves as Google's Senior Vice President for Research, Technology and Society, co-headlined the summit alongside Ramaphosa and Masiyiwa, making the event an unusually prominent gathering of senior Zimbabwean technology figures on the African public stage.

The summit underscores a broader shift in how global technology companies are thinking about Africa. Google has been investing in African cloud infrastructure since opening its first African cloud region in Johannesburg in 2021, and has since announced additional capacity expansions in response to growing demand from South African enterprises, financial services companies and government institutions. The summit provided a platform for Google to articulate its long-term Africa strategy to an audience of business leaders and government officials, while simultaneously signalling to the market that the continent's cloud and AI infrastructure is mature enough to support large-scale enterprise deployment.

Masiyiwa has consistently positioned Econet Group and its subsidiary Cassava Technologies as vehicles for building the digital infrastructure that African AI deployment will require. Cassava operates one of the continent's largest fibre networks through Liquid Intelligent Technologies, with connectivity spanning more than 35 African countries, as well as cloud computing, cybersecurity and fintech services across multiple African markets. His attendance at the Google Cloud Summit places him in a conversation about Africa's AI future that directly intersects with the infrastructure he has been building for more than a decade.

His net worth is estimated at approximately $1.4 billion, with his fortune built through Econet's telecommunications operations across Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Burundi and several other African markets, alongside his investments in media, fintech and technology infrastructure through the broader Econet Group portfolio.