Ibrahim Prize

Ibrahim Prize, award sponsored by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that recognizes excellence in African leadership. It was first awarded in 2007 to former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano; former South African president Nelson Mandela was named an honorary laureate also that year. Since then, five other African leaders have received the Ibrahim Prize.

Background

Mo Ibrahim, a successful Sudanese-born British entrepreneur and philanthropist, established the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in 2006 in an effort to promote improved governance of African countries with the goal of enabling development and progress in Africa. Among the foundation’s initiatives is the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, which recognizes and rewards exceptional leadership, as defined by the award’s criteria. An independent prize committee reviews potential candidates annually and determines if any have met the criteria. Notably, the Ibrahim Prize is not necessarily awarded every year; if the prize committee does not find that any African leaders have met the prize’s criteria for the award year, then it is not conferred.

Criteria

In order to be considered for the Ibrahim Prize, a candidate must be someone who:

• is a former African executive head of state or government
• has left office in the past three years
• was democratically elected
• served their constitutionally mandated term
• demonstrated exceptional leadership

Prize purse

Ibrahim Prize laureates receive a prize of $5 million, disbursed over 10 years. Prizes awarded before 2020 also included an annual $200,000 stipend for the rest of the laureate’s life after the 10-year period ended. The significant cash award is intended to encourage exceptional leadership in Africa and allow the laureates to continue to work in public service, sharing their knowledge and skills to benefit the continent.

Prize history

Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was the first chair of the prize committee, which awarded the inaugural prize in 2007 to former Mozambican president Chissano (1986–2005) in recognition of his leadership in the years following Mozambique’s civil war and his successful endeavors to promote peace and usher in a stable democracy and economic transformation and for his decision to not stand for a third term as president, even though the country’s constitution allowed for it. The prize committee also bestowed an honorary award that year on South African anti-apartheid hero Mandela, who had served as that country’s first Black president (1994–99), citing his inspiring “devotion to democracy and equality” and celebrating his achievements.

Since then, the prize has been awarded only five other times. Former Botswanan president Festus Mogae (1998–2008) received it in 2008 in recognition of his skills in ensuring his country remained stable and prospered while facing the threat of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Pedro Pires, former president of Cabo Verde (2001–11), was given the prize in 2011 for having transformed his country into “a model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity” and for having dismissed the idea of altering his country’s constitution in order to stand for a third term as president, instead stepping down after his second term. The 2014 prize, announced in 2015, went to Namibian Pres. Hifikepunye Pohamba (2005–15) as he prepared to step down from office. Pohamba was cited as being “one of the unsung heroes of Africa.” Former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2006–18) received the 2017 award, announced in 2018. She was recognized for having promoted reconciliation and for working to rebuild Liberia after many years of civil war. Nigerien Pres. Mahamadou Issoufou (2011–21) was the recipient of the 2020 prize, which was announced in 2021 as he prepared to leave office. He was praised for leading Nigeriens on a path to progress, even in the face of significant economic and political challenges, as well as for respecting his country’s constitution by stepping down at the end of his second term. The prize committee has not identified suitable candidates for the award since then.

List of Ibrahim Prize laureates