
Strive Masiyiwa Calls for Enhanced Funding Ecosystems for African Entrepreneurs at WEF 2025
At the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025, Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Cassava Technologies, has called for a transformative approach to funding ecosystems for emerging entrepreneurs across Africa. Speaking during the panel discussion titled “Reinventing Digital Inclusion, moderated by CNBC’s Karen Tso, Strive Masiyiwa spoke on the role of digital infrastructure and connectivity in ensuring growth and prosperity in Africa using AI. On his collaboration in closing digital divide with the World Economic Forum, which aims to create African partners, to accelerate and develop the entrepreneurial work that goes on in Africa. Not only beneficial to us as users of AI but also as entrepreneurs building their own businesses and expanding existing businesses, creating jobs for young people, expanding education and other opportunities. This collaboration will be very much African led initiative with global partners. Leading to the development of our continent, he said”

During the panel discussion, Strive Masiyiwa highlighted on the development of Africa’s unicorns, emphasized the fundamental shift needed in how we approach funding for startups in Africa. “You do not fund starters with debt; you provide equity capital. We don’t have a problem of entrepreneurship in Africa; our young people are leaving school with the understanding that if they do not start something, they will not be employed.
However, the challenge remains: where do these young people find the necessary funding to turn their ideas into reality?
Drawing from his extensive interactions with nearly six million young African entrepreneurs through his platform, Masiyiwa highlighted the critical need for capital. “Whenever I ask these young entrepreneurs about their biggest challenges, the answer is almost always the same: We have no capital, no access, we can’t borrow, we have no generational access to go back to our parents to borrow from. Most of these African entrepreneurs start their business with limited resources. “They often rely on small loans or personal savings to kick off their businesses. However, they find themselves running in circles, unable to break through the barriers that prevent them from accessing the capital needed to grow.”

Strive Masiyiwa highlighted a significant disparity in funding opportunities. “All these young people in America that we are watching building companies, we have them in Africa too,” he said. “The difference is that no one is going to give them $500 million or $100 million dollars to get started.
He emphasized, “If we do not tackle the issue of capital and create a robust ecosystem that nurtures startups, we will disadvantage our young people and stifle the continent’s potential for innovation and growth.” He urged stakeholders, including governments, private sectors, to collaborate in building an environment that fosters entrepreneurship.

The panel discussion also featured insights from other leaders, explored the role of technology in bridging the digital divide and fostering inclusion. Speaking on digital infrastructure and the preparation of requirements for AI, “We face similar challenges and bottlenecks as everybody else, computing in particular.
If AI is as important and significant as we all say it is, and it is. Then, you have to respect the sovereignty of it. The compute for Africa will have to be in Africa, it’s non negotiable. This idea of computing from elsewhere for Africa to benefit from, is not going to work. We need access to chips just like everybody else and we need to build and compute for our educational infrastructure, for our government data systems. We are going to do it with collaboration with others, we need investors to come in. He said”
One of the key takeaways from Strive Masiyiwa’s discussion was the call for African leaders to engage more assertively in conversations with global investors. “We need to come into the room and articulate our vision,” he said. “We must ask, ‘Why can’t we get this going?’ It is our responsibility to showcase the potential of our markets and the innovative spirit of our young people.