One of the most respected Universities in America, Morehouse College where the late civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jnr was educated has honoured Zimbabwean born businessman and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa with an honorary doctorate for his humanitarian work and philanthropy.
Mr Masiyiwa who founded Econet Wireless, a global telecommunications company with interests and operations on four continents, is considered one of the most successful African business men and has earned international acclaim for his 'zero tolerance' to corrupt business practices.
As a philanthropist Mr Masiyiwa has invested most of his personal wealth in providing educational support to hundreds of thousands of orphans. At any given time more than 40 000 orphans in Africa are on educational support. He has also provided health care facilities, and also sends some of the brightest young Africans to universities and colleges around the world, including more than 30 currently studying in the United States.
As a humanitarian, Mr Masiyiwa is recognised the world over for his work with organisations like the Rockefeller Foundation, where he is a trustee; the Humanitarian Prize where he is a juror; the Holocaust Museum in Washington, where he sits on its global genocide watch committee; the Carbon War Room which he started with Richard Branson; the global eHealth programme which he helped found with South Africa’s Bishop Desmond Tutu.
His work in promoting the interests of small holder farmers in Africa was recently recognised by President Obama, when he invited him to join a meeting at Camp David with G-8 leaders, the first time private business man from Africa have been invited to sit in with the G-8 leaders, to discuss an issue of global concern.
In a statement, Mr Masiyiwa said that he was honoured and humbled to have been given such a prestigious recognition. “When I first learned to read as a child, I learnt of this man called Martin Luther King, and I discovered then, that he was a Morehouse man, and I always wanted to come here."
"His work in promoting the interests of small holder farmers in Africa was recently recognised by President Obama, when he invited him to join a meeting at Camp David with G-8 leaders, the first time private business man from Africa have been invited to sit in with the G-8 leaders, to discuss an issue of global concern."