Kofi Annan announces the former
President of Botswana as the winner of the Ibrahim
Prize for Achievement in African Leadership
Festus Gontebanye Mogae, the former
President of Botswana, has been announced today as the winner of the 2008
Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Established to recognise
and celebrate excellence in African leadership, the Ibrahim Prize is the largest
annually awarded prize in the world, consisting of US$5 million over 10 years
and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. The Foundation will consider
granting a further $200,000 per year for ten years towards public interest
activities and good causes espoused by the Laureate.
Announcing the 2008 Ibrahim
Laureate in front of an audience of London’s African diplomatic community, civil
society representatives and the media, Kofi Annan, the Chair of the Prize
Committee, said:
“President Mogae’s outstanding
leadership has ensured Botswana’s continued stability and
prosperity in the face of an HIV/AIDS pandemic which threatened the future of
his country and people.”
Kofi Annan went on to praise
President Mogae’s stewardship of the Botswanan economy. He
said:
“Botswana
demonstrates how a country with natural resources can promote sustainable
development with good governance, in a continent where too often mineral wealth
has become a curse.”
The Ibrahim Prize has been
established by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, launched in October 2006 as an
initiative to support great African leadership. The 2008 Ibrahim Laureate was
selected by the Prize Committee of six eminent individuals. The Prize Committee
assesses democratically elected former Executive Heads of State or Government
from sub-Saharan African countries who have served their term in office within
the limits set by their country’s constitution, and have left office within the
last three years.
The announcement of this year’s
Ibrahim Laureate comes a fortnight after the publication of the 2008 Ibrahim
Index of African Governance in Addis
Ababa. Assessed against 57 criteria, the Ibrahim Index
ranks sub-Saharan African nations according to governance performance. The
Ibrahim Index is one of a number of independent and authoritative sources which
the Prize Committee uses in its deliberations.
On hearing the
outcome of the Prize Committee’s deliberations, Mo Ibrahim, the founder of the
Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said:
“I am delighted that
the Prize Committee has selected President Mogae as the second Ibrahim Laureate.
He is another example of outstanding leadership from the African continent. I
offer President Mogae my warmest congratulations and best
wishes.”
In October 2007,
Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, became the inaugural
Ibrahim Laureate. The Prize Committee’s citation praised President Chissano’s
“achievements in bringing peace, reconciliation, stable democracy and economic
progress to his country”.
For all
media enquiries on Monday 20th October, please
contact:
David
Osborn
+44 20 7842
0148
david.osborn@portlandpr.co.uk
