THE FUSE

Strive Masiyiwa, the founder and executive chairman of Econet Global, has launched Econet AI as a standalone business unit built to accelerate artificial intelligence adoption across Zimbabwe's economy. Unveiled on April 17, 2026, the move shifts AI inside the group from an internal innovation hub into a commercial product suite aimed at companies, creators and individual users. The launch is one of the clearest signals yet that Masiyiwa wants his flagship telecoms group positioned at the front of Africa's AI build-out.