The Mo Ibrahim Foundation will announce the first winner of the Mo Ibrahim award for Achievement in African Leadership next year, says a spokesman at the foundation.
Dr Mo Ibrahim, founder of Celtel International, has established a $5 million annual award for an African leader who portrays sound political governance. Martin DeKoning, spokesman for Celtel International, emphasises that the prize is not under the auspices of Celtel, but has been developed in Ibrahim's personal capacity.
After selling the pan-African mobile telecommunications company in 2005 to Kuwait-based MTC for $3.4 billion, Ibrahim put $100 million into the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to encourage democratic governance in Africa, he says.
The personal investment by Ibrahim amounts to an annual prize of $5 million spread over 10 years. The winner will receive $200 000 per year after that for life, plus another $200 000 made available for good causes espoused by the leader. This is according to a spokesman at the foundation.
Ibrahim hopes the prize will inspire African leaders to deliver security, health, education and economic development to their people. An index will be used to measure and benchmark performance in each African country.
The index is an advanced country-by-country ranking system of effective governance in sub-Saharan Africa, which was developed at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, he says.
Celtel began as a subsidiary in 1998 and grew into the largest pan-African telecommunications company on the continent, operating in 16 countries and employing over 5 000 people.
According to a Mo Ibrahim Foundation press release, Ibrahim says Celtel is an example of a "clean company" in Africa that followed strict standards of corporate governance. "From day one we said we did not pay a single dollar in bribes," he says.
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