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By Ross Moyo
Zimbabwe’s richest man, billionaire mogul, Cassava Technologies Owner, Econet and Liquid Intelligent Technologies founder Strive Masiyiwa received an honorary doctorate from Princeton University this week, adding another top US academic honour to his record in entrepreneurship and digital infrastructure.
The ceremony at Princeton — home to Einstein’s physics lectures and Alan Turing’s doctorate — recognized Masiyiwa’s role in expanding broadband, data centers and cloud services across Africa through Liquid Intelligent Technologies.
“Some will laugh at you. Stay the course anyway,” Masiyiwa wrote to his @LionCubs in a Sunday Facebook post recalling a pre-Econet bank queue where an acquaintance mocked him publicly for “falling on hard times.”
The man, flanked by bodyguards and “bling”, announced to the room: “People like you work for real business people like me.” Masiyiwa left, went home and prayed for strength to keep building.
He turned the memory into a lesson on algorithmic discipline for today’s founders: “Instagram will flood you with images making you feel like a failure for building slow or failing and learning. Don’t let it get to you.”
His advice was technical and personal: “I never see or read about any of them because I would never allow my algorithms to track what they do. Teach your algorithms to remove influences that don’t add to your growth.”
Quoting the Psalmist, he added long-view context:
“I have seen such people flourish out of nowhere, spreading like bay leaves on water. But then I looked and they had vanished just as suddenly.”
Masiyiwa, joined by mentor Bishop Joseph Garlington, said the Princeton honour reflects consistency over decades, not viral moments — a signal that patient capital in regulated tech still wins.
“To God be all honor and praise, in Jesus’ Name,” he wrote, grounding the milestone in faith and stewardship rather than optics.
From a product lens, the recognition boosts Liquid’s positioning in data centers, fiber and cloud as African infrastructure players compete globally for enterprise and hyperscaler workloads.
“What you are doing is really important. How do I know? Because you are one of my @LionCubs,” he told entrepreneurs, urging systems-building over hype.
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