Internet penetration is creeping up in Africa, bringing the prospect of digital dividends to a continent long marked by digital divides. “Africa has reached a penetration which has broken the barrier of 15 %, and that’s important,” says Nii Quaynor, a scientist who has played a key role in the introduction and development of the…
The Prime Minister has today, 13th June, recognised Tsitsi and Strive Masiyiwa, from Zimbabwe, for their exceptional voluntary service providing education to underprivileged children. Tsitsi and Strive founded ‘Higherlife Foundation’ in 1996, a non-profit organisation that is investing in Africa’s future by empowering vulnerable children through education and creating opportunities for highly talented young people.…
Emmanuelle Afaribea Dankwa, a First Class Honours graduate of Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Ghana, and recipient of the Rhodes Scholarships for West Africa 2018, affirms that ‘Impossible’ is not a fact but an opinion; it’s not a declaration but a dare. Through her life’s journey she shows us that we are, indeed,…
We fast forward one last time to the two characters; Rufaro and Tariro. Rufaro, now aged 32, works as the Head of Finance for a big bank in Zimbabwe. Whilst Tariro, aged 30, owns and runs two successful hair salons in Harare. They have both remained in touch with each other through Higherlife Foundation’s mentorship…
Recently, Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) hosted Mrs. Tstisi Masiyiwa, Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Higherlife Foundation, as part of CMU-Africa’s ongoing Distinguished Lecture Series. The series is a long-standing tradition, that brings in industry leaders from across the globe to speak on a variety of topics from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence to space exploration.…
The past few years have seen a rise in the number of women-owned businesses in Africa. Be it in IT, oil, mining, or in the aviation sector, female entrepreneurs are breaking gender stereotypes and showing that what a man can do, a woman can also do, if not better. Bold and fearlessly ambitious, these are…
Women are no strangers to the stereotypes that surround their often more detailed approach to getting tasks done. Too pedantic. Too fussy. We’ve heard them all. YOUNG WOMEN IN TECH Across industries companies are starting to wake up to the unique value which women bring to the workplace. ICT, in particular, is an industry…
One of the keywords in Africa today is leapfrogging – that phenomenon that allows those to were behind to step ahead of those who were previously at the fore. Mobile phone networks are a classic example: most African countries have, by and large, skipped the wired era and embraced wireless. As a result, mobile phones…
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Development experts throughout the globe have grasped onto the acronym as shorthand for the education, training and workforce development policies that will yield the greatest dividends for any country, developed or emerging. For example, the United States spends approximately $500 billion on research and development per year, about 70% of…
Yale University and the Higherlife Foundation are pleased to announce a commitment to extend the Yale Young African Scholars program (YYAS) for another five years, made possible through the continuing generosity of Zimbabwean-born philanthropists Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa. Building on the success of Yale’s initial three-year partnership with the Higherlife Foundation, this next phase will…