Mohamed (莫) Ibrahim

Prerequisite to Prosperity
Why Africa’s Future Depends on Better Governance

一次, while flying over Kenya, I looked out over the countryside and asked myself
why the inhabitants of a continent filled with resources could ever go hungry.
Africa is a place rich with talent and possibility. As a businessman who has had suc-
cess building a company in Africa, I have seen for myself how Africa can succeed
when it is unhindered. When I founded Celtel International in 1998, there were
only two million mobile handsets on the continent. A decade later, Africa is the
fastest-growing mobile phone market in the world. 超过 200 million people in
Africa now use mobile phones. Such enormous growth did not come from
无处. More probably, the success of a technology-based business suggests that
Africa possesses the vitality and the elemental requirements for lasting prosperity.
How is it, 然后, that Africa still remains mired in poverty and conflict?

Africa and its citizens will never take advantage of the opportunities presented
by its own boundless potential without good governance. The most pressing issues
hinge on proper rule: without the effective administration of a state’s resources,
there can be no environmental sustainability; without the rule of law, 没有人类
权利; without a thriving private sector and a robust civil society, we cannot devel-
op economically. Nothing will happen without good governance, and the success
of mobile telecom companies will be instrumental in bringing about changes in
治理, just as they have been instrumental in attracting foreign investment.
Mobile telecom companies are truly mobilizing markets.

As CEO of Celtel, I enforced a corporate policy that rejected bribery as a way
of doing business. In some countries we lost markets because of this policy, 但
without regrets. I was determined to ensure accountable and transparent business
practices by Celtel in every country in which we operated. Five times I went to
court to enforce contracts, and five times I won. 随着时间的推移, Celtel has helped to
change the way business is done in Africa.

As a Sudanese Nubian, and one who has traveled throughout Africa and had
the opportunity to become acquainted with thousands of Celtel customers, hun-

博士. Mohamed (莫) Ibrahim is the founder of Celtel and, previously, of Mobile
Systems International (MSI). 博士. Ibrahim was awarded the Chairman’s Award for
Lifetime Achievement from the GSM Association in 2007 and the Economist’s
Innovation Award 2007 for Social and Economic Innovation.

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Mohamed (莫) Ibrahim

dreds of our business partners, and scores of government officials and national
领导者, I know firsthand that Celtel was not alone in this quest. Despite critical
shortcomings in some countries, many African leaders, at all levels, effectively per-
form the duties of their office every day. Africa is no lost cause if we nurture and
accelerate the spread of this competent leadership.

The success of mobile
telecom companies will be
instrumental in bringing
about changes in governance,
just as they have been
instrumental in attracting
foreign investment. 移动的
telecom companies are truly
mobilizing markets.

Even if we agree about the pri-
macy of good governance, 缺点-
cept frequently seems too opaque
to be of practical use. 在 2006, 我
已创建
Ibrahim
the Mo
Foundation to take on the task of
expressing government effective-
ness in quantifiable terms, and cel-
ebrate excellence in leadership as a
advancing Africa’s
means of
progress even further. Every year,
the Foundation compiles statistical
data measuring how well African
governments perform and rates
them in an annual index. 这
quantitative data, available for all
sub-Saharan African nations, is a
valuable tool for citizens and civil
society to gauge how their government is performing over time and in relation to
the rest of the continent.

In creating the Foundation, I also recognized that there was a gap in people’s
perceptions of the African continent and the reality. We do have great leadership
in Africa today, and not just in Nelson Mandela. But the people’s sense of Africa is
limited to crisis areas and I wanted the Foundation to challenge these presump-
系统蒸发散. So we award the Ibrahim Prize for Excellence in African Leadership. 我们是
looking for leaders who enter and leave office as they should and who really
achieve something for their countries. The winner receives $5 million dollars in recognition of their effective stewardship of their country. The Ibrahim Index is one of many sources that are used to assess sub-Saharan African leaders. By rating each of Africa’s 48 countries every year and providing opportunities for those countries’ leaders after they leave office, the Foundation seeks to encour- age great leadership and continued engagement in the welfare of Africa’s citizens. The Foundation intends most of all to open the dialogue on the role that gover- nance plays in the development of effective states, and provide tools for citizens to hold their leaders to account. While the proceeds given to the recipient of the leadership prize grab most inter- THE IBRAHIM INDEX 4 创新 / winter 2009 从http下载的://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/4/1/3/704305/itgg.2009.4.1.3.pdf by guest on 07 九月 2023 Prerequisite to Prosperity national headlines, it is the production of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance that is the cornerstone on which all of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s other endeavors rest. 在过去, the absence of a widely accepted and detailed def- inition of what constitutes good governance has impeded assessment of perform- 安斯. The Foundation, 尽管, does not consider this such a mystery. If we consid- er governance as a set of political goods that governments need to deliver to their people, then we only need to define those goods and measure their delivery. For the Ibrahim Index, we use quantifiable measures of a governments’ success in provid- ing services like schools and health care. The index then assigns ratings to each country in five broad categories—safety and security; 法治, 透明的- cy and corruption; human development; participation and human rights; and sus- tainable economic opportunity. These calculations provide us with the basis by which we can effectively compare states with one another, as well as track progress over time by analyzing changes from year to year. By its nature, the Ibrahim Index and the databases it utilizes rely on hundreds of pages of data and methodological explanation. Each year, the index improves based on the availability of more accurate and timely data. We aim to build on the most outstanding work done so far in standardizing the measurement of govern- ment effectiveness. The Foundation is partnering with African institutions, and over time will transfer the compilation of the Ibrahim Index to African organiza- tions in order to raise the baseline of statistical accuracy and entrench African ownership of the project. Fundamentally, the Ibrahim Index breaks the dominance of speculative analysis as the primary form of assessment, in favor of a standard metric by which observers can compare countries using quantitative data. As a result, the index is one of the most comprehensive indices ever created, and the first of its kind to focus solely on Africa. 然而, this is no academic exercise though; building on the information that the Ibrahim Index brings to light, the Foundation seeks to change the face of leadership in Africa by starting a discussion about the role of government. By com- paring states with one another, our hope is that the index will encourage countries to look to their neighbors to learn lessons. As leaders pinpoint those areas requir- ing the greatest attention, they can focus their efforts and efficiently tackle a coun- try’s most critical problems. Governments will have an increased incentive to improve once everyone has access to this information. As stakeholders, citizens can hold their leaders accountable for their efforts, in a grand conversation about a state’s future. THE IBRAHIM PRIZE Africa has entered a new era—one that could, if the necessary conditions are put in place, deliver lasting change in the fortunes of the continent’s people. A new breed of African leaders who try to do the right thing in and out of office deserve the credit for this shift. Yet the world pays little attention to these strides forward, and few avenues exist for these leaders to continue to make an impact after leaving innovations / winter 2009 5 从http下载的://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/4/1/3/704305/itgg.2009.4.1.3.pdf by guest on 07 九月 2023 Mohamed (莫) Ibrahim office. The Foundation puts a spotlight on leadership excellence in Africa, highlight- ing this with the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Given annually, the prize recognizes a former executive head of state or government on their exercise of leadership and the performance of their country during their time in office. The Ibrahim Prize draws attention to those lit- tle known African leaders who, in tough circum- 立场, are lifting their people out of poverty, 结尾- ing conflicts, providing jobs, ETC. World leaders such as Kofi Annan, Mohammed ElBaradei, and Mary Robinson are mem- bers of the committee that judges potential winners the prize. and awards Looking at the Ibrahim Index and a range of other sources this committee of experts judges every eligible leader on every aspect of their in office. this endeavor Hopefully, will bring attention to the great progress that Africa is making, thereby sparking further dialogue about Africa has entered a new era— one that could, if the necessary conditions are put in place, deliver lasting change in the fortunes of the continent’s people. A new breed of African leaders who try to do the right thing in and out of office deserve the credit for this shift. Yet the world pays little attention to these strides, and few avenues exist for these leaders to continue to make an impact after leaving office. tenure African governance. The prize money that comes with the recognition of achievement will enable African leaders to have a life after office in service to civil society. First and fore- 最多, the leaders get the honor of being a recipient, knowing that all of Africa and the world will become aware of their achievements. 第二, and perhaps more provocatively, $5 million plus comes with the prize. This is not an arbitrary
数量, but a way to encourage leaders to stay active after leaving office and pro-
viding them with $500,000 a year for ten years in recognition of their continued contribution to Africa. 此外, we provide $200,000 toward public interest
activities espoused by the winner. After ten years, we provide $200,000 annually for
the rest of the leader’s life.

We are not awarding this prize as a type of pension, but rather as a reward for
the leaders who really managed to deliver to their people. It actively encourages
discussion of the positive aspects of a leader’s work, one that would not have

创新 / winter 2009

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Prerequisite to Prosperity

occurred at such high levels if it were not for the prize. 此外, we do not seek
to enable presidents to sit in obscurity and early retirement by the swimming pool.
In Africa, often the capacity of a leader to play an important role in their society
diminishes as soon as their term of office ends. Whereas in the rest of the world,
leaders have financial institutions to run or lucrative speaking engagements to help
sustain them and keep them active in the civil sphere, there are few opportunities
available for former African presidents. We hope to change this reality in order to
further the progress already made.

AFRICANS TAKING CONTROL OF THEIR PROGRESS

Positive news about African leadership, coupled with the economic advances made
throughout African markets, mark a watershed in Africa’s history and further dis-
pel the view of the continent as a region of only undifferentiated hardship and
despair. Times have changed, and civil society strengthens with the passage of time.
Africa will change in the coming years as Africans begin to take responsibility for
their own success. Formerly marginalized demographic groups, most prevalent
among them women, will come to play a greater role in society. With the spread of
fairness and equality under the rule of law, women working 11 到 12 hours a day
will see a stake in society commensurate with the work they do.

Technology has contributed to these advances in the strength of African civil
社会. Increased access to information via mobile phones, as well as TV, newspa-
pers, 和收音机, offers the promise of an African continent in which every individ-
ual can learn about the issues confronting their social sphere and can share their
views freely with others. When accurate and timely information is accessible, 它
exposes bad practice and allows citizens to reject poor governance. Such a change
brings us out of the era of Africans hanging their hopes on a nationalist leader or
supposedly benign dictator. Kenya and Zimbabwe tell us that this is so; when peo-
ple in these countries felt that their votes were not respected, they did not take it
lying down and they did not accept it. Rhis is a very strong message: that the wish-
es of African people can no longer be taken for granted. All Africans have a right
to live in freedom and prosperity and to select their leaders through fair and dem-
ocratic elections, and the time has come when Africans are no longer willing to
accept lower standards of governance than those in the rest of the world.

Africans themselves must harness the forward momentum the continent cur-
rently enjoys in order to move it to the next stage. Africans have to build that
未来, but it can only happen if they govern themselves properly. Although aid
from other nations can help as a quick fix, we cannot allow our children to also live
in a world in which they sit and wait for assistance. In order for this to happen,
尽管, Africans must take a critical look at their own practices. Partnerships with
African institutions to generate the Ibrahim Index help to serve this purpose; 在
addition to providing more accurate and timely data, it will put the responsibility
for making honest assessments in the hands of an ever-strengthening African civil
社会. Africans will take ownership of their future and develop their own forms

创新 / winter 2009

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Mohamed (莫) Ibrahim

of accountability and own ways of delivering change. 最终, we will begin to
set benchmarks that the whole world can emulate.

Africans themselves must
harness the forward momentum
the continent currently enjoys in
order to move it to the next
阶段. Africans have to build that
未来, but it can only happen if
they govern themselves properly.
Although aid from other nations
can help as a quick fix, 我们
cannot allow our children to
also live in a world in which
they sit and wait for assistance.

This will mean that the world will no longer be able to sustain a reduced pic-
ture of Africa that consists of Zimbabwe, Congo, 索马里, and Darfur. 什么时候我们
sought to notify Joachim Chissano, the former leader of Mozambique, that our
committee had selected him as the winner of the first Ibrahim Prize, we were
unable to locate him. 我们
learned that he had spent his
birthday in the borderland
between Uganda, Sudan, 和
Congo mediating between
the government of Uganda
and the Lord’s Resistance
Army. And yet, when we
announced the prize, every-
one said, “Chissano who?”
This reality is troubling,
showing how great acts go
unreported every day. 但
随着时间的推移, a new generation
of African leaders will devel-
op to the point where the
international
社区
can no longer ignore them.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation
will help to elevate the lead-
erships’ accomplishments to
those great heights. 我们的
hope is that someday, 这
committee will have so many great candidates to choose from that they have a
problem choosing a winner. But getting to that point will not happen on its own—
although the fundamentals for success exist all around us in Africa, critical barri-
ers still abound.

Africa’s ability to change and adapt to new communications technologies is
both a key driver of future change and evidence of its possibility. 相似地, 缺点-
tinent’s ability to adopt and refine Western methods of free enterprise and invest-
ment signal a new openness to markets that are more inclusive. If Africa can
leapfrog ahead in technology and private enterprise, then why not in governance?
This breakthrough will only happen in the hands of Africans, and African civil
society in general. Just as an African had to spearhead an effort like that which we
have built in the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Africans will bear the responsibility for
demanding change from their governments and making it happen. With the pres-
ence of the proper tools necessary for this effort, I have every confidence we will
realize this lofty goal.

创新 / winter 2009

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