Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim, born 3 May 1946 is a Sudanese-British billionaire businessman. He worked for several telecommunications companies, before founding Celtel, which when sold had over 24 million mobile phone subscribers in 14 African countries.
After selling Celtel in 2005 for $3.4 billion, he set up the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to encourage better governance in Africa, as well as creating the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, to evaluate nations’ performance. He is also a member of the Africa regional advisory board of London Business School.
In 2007 he initiated the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, which awards $5 million to African heads of state who deliver security, health, education and economic development to their constituents and democratically transfer power to their successors. Ibrahim has pledged to give at least half of his wealth to charity by joining The Giving Pledge.
According to the Forbes 2011 Billionaire List, Mo Ibrahim is worth $1.8 billion, making him the 692nd richest person in the world. Mo Ibrahim was also selected for the TIME “Top 100” list in 2008 and was ranked first in the annual Powerlist of influential Black Britons.
Personal life
In 1973, Ibrahim married Hania Morsi Fadl, an Alexandria University graduate from the year above him, whom he had known since childhood.
They are now divorced, and Fadl is a Sudanese-born British radiologist, running the only breast cancer clinic in Sudan.
They have a daughter, Hadeel Ibrahim, who is executive director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, vice chair of the Africa Centre in New York, and a board member of the Clinton Foundation; and two sons Hosh and Sami Ibrahim.
Ibrahim resides in the United Kingdom.
Mohammed Ibrahim Net Worth: Mohammed Ibrahim is a British billionaire who has a net worth of $1.1 billion. Mohammed Ibrahim, a Sudanese native, made his way to riches as the founder of the telecommunication company, Celtel, one of the first phone companies to serve Africa and the Middle East.
In 2005, when he decided to sell Celtel for $3.4 billion, the company already numbered over 24 million mobile phone subscribers in 14 countries. Ibrahim pocketed a total of $1.4 billion from the deal. Now, he is mainly focused on fighting corrupt leadership in the region through his Mo Ibrahim Foundation. The foundation grants a lifetime award of $5 million over 10 years to retired African heads of state who have made their countries materially better off and more transparent. It also publishes the Ibrahim Index of African Governance that ranks governments by their ability to ensure sustained economic opportunity and the rule of law.
- Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim founded Celtel International in 1998, one of the first mobile phone companies serving Africa and the Middle East.
- He sold Celtel to Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company for $3.4 billion in 2005 and pocketed $1.4 billion.
- Since then, he’s focused on fighting corrupt leadership in Africa through the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, directed by his daughter, Hadeel.
- He has a majority stake in Satya Capital, a private equity fund that invests in African startups, such as Pan-African digital firm company Cellulant.
Who Is Dr Mo?Ibrahim??
Mo Ibrahim is a Sudanese-born British businessman who became a billionaire after selling his communications company, Celtel to Kuwaiti investors.
Mo Ibrahim founded Celtel Ltd in 1998 and sold it to Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company for$3.4 billion in 2005. He pocketed $1.4 billion from the deal.
He was born in Sudan where he lived for a while before his family moved to Egypt. He studied Electrical Engineering at Alexandria University and after he graduated, he moved back to Sudan to work in the National Telecommunication Board, Sudan Telecom.
British influence and career?growth?
In 1974 Mo Ibrahim moved to England to gain his master’s degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Bradford. This was followed by a PhD in mobile communications from the University of Birmingham.
Dr. Mo Ibrahim had a brief stint teaching undergraduate telecommunications studies at the University of Greenwich before quitting to take up a Technical Director role at Cellnet, a subsidiary of the British telecommunication giant, British Telecom (BT).
He returned to Sudan, armed with enough experience and contacts to set up Celtel telecommunications which he eventually sold for $3.4 billion in 2005. He has since then, committed his time to his philanthropic efforts.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation?
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation was founded in 2006 and its primary objective is to promote good governance across the African continent. The foundation pays a total of $5 million prize money to selected winners. The award targets African leaders who show stellar leadership and winners are selected by a prize committee made up of reputable Africans.
About the founder of the Foundation:
Dr Mo Ibrahim is the Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which he established in 2006 to support good governance and exceptional leadership on the African continent.
Sudanese-born, Dr Ibrahim has a distinguished business career. In 1989 he founded Mobile Systems International (MSI), a world leading cellular consulting and software provider, and in 1998, Celtel International, one of Africa’s leading mobile telephone companies which pioneered mobile services in Africa.
Dr Ibrahim is also Founding Chairman of Satya Capital Limited, a private investment firm primarily focused on Africa.
Dr Ibrahim has received numerous honorary degrees and fellowships from a range of prestigious academic institutions including University of Birmingham, Bradford University, De Montfort University – Leicester, Imperial College – London, London Business School, Oxford University, Royal Academy of Engineering, SOAS – University of London, University of Pennsylvania and Lancaster University.
Influence in governance across Africa
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance is a key initiative of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. It has been published annually since 2007, with launch events in various African cities, including Accra, Cairo, Dakar, Johannesburg and Nairobi. The most recent iteration of the Index, the 2015 IIAG was published in October 2015.
The index was initially produced in association with Harvard University; academic and technical assistance has subsequently been provided by a range of African academics and research bodies.
The IIAG is designed as a tool for citizens, governments, institutions and business to assess the delivery of public goods and services, and policy outcomes, across Africa. It is an annual publication which receives extensive media attention from across the African continent and in the international media.
The Ibrahim Index has been used by civil society and government bodies across the continent to monitor governance. One example is in South Africa, where the party in opposition, the Democratic Alliance, used the Ibrahim Index to challenge the government’s record on safety and security.
In 2007, critique suggested that the Index was limited by its focus on the 48 Sub-Saharan African countries, ignoring Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. To be a fully representative Index of African Governance, as it claimed, it needed to expand its coverage to include North Africa. The 2009 index first included these countries. Aside from these five additions, the index first included South Sudan, which became a separate country in 2011, during its 2019 report.
Awards:
Dr Ibrahim is also the recipient of a number of awards including The GSM Association’s Chairman’s Award for Lifetime Achievement (2007), The Economist Innovation Award for Social & Economic Innovation (2007), BNP Paribas Prize for Philanthropy (2008), Oslo Business for Peace Award (2009), Raymond Georis Prize for Innovative Philanthropy in Europe (2010), Clinton Global Citizen Award (2010), the Millenium Excellence Award for Actions in Africa (2012), the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2012), the Africare Leadership Award (2013), the Kiel Institute Global Economy Prize (June 2013), the Eisenhower Medal for Distinguished Leadership and Service (May 2014), the Foreign Policy Association Medal (June 2014), International Republican Institute (US) Freedom Award (2015), Danish CSR Honor Prize (2015), David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2017).
Dr Ibrahim is the Co-founder and Co-chair of the Africa Europe Foundation, which was launched in 2020 to reset and bolster Africa-Europe relations.
What you should?know?
- Dr Mo Ibrahim is also a British citizen and he resides in the United Kingdom.
- Dr Mo Ibrahim is one of the 15 black billionaires in the world with a net worth of $1.1bn.
- Dr Mo Ibrahim is the richest Sudanese citizen.
- President Mahamadou Issoufou was the 2020 winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.
Disclaimer
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