HARARE - Econet Wireless founder, Strive Masiyiwa, has joined the Africa Progress Panel which is chaired by former United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan.

The South Africa-based telecoms tycoon joins a panel which also includes, among others former International Monetary Fund managing director Michel Camdessus, Graca Machel and former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, to help promote equitable and sustainable development on the continent.

In a statement this week, Annan said: “Strive brings a wealth of extraordinary business and governance experience. We’re delighted to have him join us.”

“It is an immense privilege to receive this invitation and I look forward to working with the Panel however best I can to promote sustainable and equitable development in Africa,” Masiyiwa said.

“This is also a tremendously exciting moment to be working on oil, gas, and minerals — the subject of this year’s Africa Progress Report and a critical issue for our continent,” he said.

The Geneva-based group says its 10 panellists have “unusual access to the highest level of policy makers in Africa and across the globe” which gives the panel the ability to “leverage and to broker knowledge, innovations and collaborations for action”.

Apart from founding the Econet group, which has become a global telecoms company, Masiyiwa is also recognised internationally for his leadership contributions in a number of other areas including crusading campaigns to stamp out corruption in Africa.

He is also a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation, and a board member of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, also chaired by Kofi Annan, as well as co-founder of the Carbon War Room, a global, independent non-profit established to help entrepreneurs unlock market-driven solutions to climate change. — NewZimbabwe.com