Zimbabwe doctors' strike ends after help from tycoon
A strike by Zimbabwe's doctors has ended after a billionaire living in Britain promised to improve their pay.
Strive Masiyiwa, who made a fortune in telecoms, intervened after a standoff of more than four months crippled the healthcare system. He offered to temporarily pay up to 2,000 doctors around $300 (£228) a month from a fund of around $6.25 million.
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors' Association (ZHDA) said that Mr Masiyiwa's offer, to be distributed through a programme run by his Higherlife Foundation, had been accepted.
"The ZHDA wants to extend its gratitude to the Higherlife Foundation for extending its offer once again to all government doctors," a statement read. "The ZHDA is encouraging its entire membership to go and apply for the training fellowship before the stipulated deadline."
Mr Masiyiwa is the London-based Zimbabwe-born founder of Econet Wireless, a telecommunications giant, and has a net worth of more than $1.1 billion. His Higherlife Foundation supports poor children in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Burundi and Lesotho.
The stand-off between Zimbabwe's doctors and government has played out before the backdrop of a major economic crisis, which has seen food shortages and high unemployment.
Some of the doctors on strike are paid less than $100 a month, according to the BBC, which means getting to work and buying food can be a struggle.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr Tawanda Zvakada, a spokesman for the ZHDA, said doctors were "still looking for a long-term solution" despite Mr Masiyiwa's intervention.
