Ten big ideas to change the world

Strive Masiyiwa
Founder and chairman, Econet Wireless

Attack Problems at the Roots
when Ebola struck Liberia, a coalition of philanthropists quickly emerged to work with governments and large health organisations to stem the crisis. Strive Masiyiwa was tapped by the African Union to be the point person for the continent. That meant looking at the problem systemically, not country by country. “A pandemic doesn’t respect borders,” he says. “A weak health care system in Monrovia, Liberia, is a weak health care system in Manhattan.” Part of the plan to stop the next Ebola outbreak should be to support Africa’s health care system, he says, but only as a section of a larger approach—to broadly strengthen those economies that are as weak as their recovering populations, to do things like encourage tourists to return. “It’s not all about the billionaires. Everyone has to be part of this response. It has to be global.”