Mohammed Ibrahim

Profile

age: 65
residence: London, United Kingdom
Country of citizenship: United Kingdom
Net worth: $ 1.8 Billion

Ranking according to forbes billionaires
#692 world
#23 in the UK

Life Story

Mo Ibrahim was born in Sudan. He later moved with his family to Alexandria, Egypt, where they lived a hand-to-mouth kind of life. His father took him to school, and a few years later, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering at the university of Alexandria. He worked with sudan telecom for a while before winning a scholarship for engineering in the U.K., where he got a Masters in electronics and electrical engineering from the University of Bradford, and a PhD in mobile communications from the University of Birmingham.

The Brilliant Idea

A brainwave during a taxi ride, as he saw the driver operating his radio, changed Ibrahim’s future. At a time when mobile phones were the stuff of science fiction, the budding engineer helped lay the foundations for the modern mobile phone. Impressed by his work, British Telecom (BT) lured Ibrahim away from academia to become the technical director for Cellnet, its in-car telephony company. In 1985, his team launched the company’s first cellular service in the U.K. But after six years with the telecom giant, Ibrahim left BT in 1989 to be his own boss. With just $50,000, he started his own telecommunications consultancy, Mobile Systems International (MSI), and in just under ten years, the firm boasted 800 employees and 17 international subsidiaries. In 2000, Mo Ibrahim sold MSI to Marconi Plc for $916 million, reinvesting the funds into Celtel, an earlier spin-off of MSI. Ibrahim’s Celtel was formed in 1998 to build and operate mobile networks in Africa.

But, in a brilliant stroke of timing, the launch of this mobile network company missed the internet bust by a few years. Africa had also just begun to liberalize and was seeking investment inflows. Add to this Ibrahim’s commitment to transparency and ethical business practices, and Celtel had a winning recipe for success. The company grew in popularity, changing the lives of people in more than 14 African countries. With its clean image and quality of service, Celtel’s users ballooned from 7.5 million in 1999 to 76.8 million in 2004, an average annual increase of 58%. In 2005, Celtel was bought by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC (MTC Kuwait) for $3.4 billion. Ibrahim commented, “At the end of the day, the level of transparency and quality of corporate governance enhanced the value of the company. When we sold the company we received 8.5 times EBITDA.”

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation

Mo Ibrahim left Celtel and established the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an initiative which encourages business and development in the continent and awards funding to African heads of state and governments that have demonstrated excellence in African leadership.

Established in 2006, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation supports good governance and great leadership in Africa. The Foundation works to:
• Provide a framework and tools by which citizens and governments can assess and measure progress in governance
• Recognise excellence in African leadership and provide a practical way in which leaders can build positive legacies on the continent when they have left national office
• Stimulate debate on the quality of governance and major governance issues in Africa
• Develop leadership and governance capacity in Africa

Most prominent element of the foundation is a lifetime award of $5 million over 10 years, and $200,000 annually thereafter, to an African head of state who has retired within the preceding three years and left his country materially better off and more transparent. Awarding committee decided not to award the prize in 2009 or 2010.

The Foundation has four major programme areas:

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance
A comprehensive assessment of African countries according to the quality of their governance. Compiled annually, in partnership with experts from a number of African institutions, the Ibrahim Index aims to be African’s leading assessment of governance that informs and empowers citizens, civil society, parliaments and governments to measure progress.

The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership
A prize which celebrates excellence in African leadership. The prize is awarded to a former Executive Head of State or Government by a Prize Committee composed of eminent figures, including three Nobel Laureates. Previous laureates include President Joaquim Chissano (2007), President Festus Mogae (2008) and President Nelson Mandela (Honorary). In 2009 and 2010, the Ibrahim Prize was not awarded by the Prize Committee.
In 2007, Joaquim Chissano, President of Mozambique, became the first recipient of the Ibrahim Prize, the world’s largest award amounting to $5 million. Ibrahim recognized Chissano for bringing his country out of starvation and violence in the 1980s, leaving the country politically stable and economically stronger when he stepped down voluntarily in 2005

The Ibrahim Discussion Forum
An annual high level discussion forum facilitated by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Participants discuss and debate the African agenda articulated by the Foundation in collaboration with key members of African civil society.

Capacity Building Programmes
• The Ibrahim Scholarship Programmes are a range of scholarships to support aspiring African leaders at a number of distinguished academic institutions, including Ahfad University in Khartoum, the American University of Cairo, London Business School and the School of Oriental and African Studies.
• The Ibrahim Leadership Fellowships is a selective programme designed to identify and prepare the next generation of outstanding African leaders by providing them with mentoring opportunities in key multilateral institutions.

In 2008, Ibrahim was named Britain’s most influential black person. But he asserts in his quiet demeanor, “I’m the same African boy who grew up, came here and worked hard. And I was fortunate enough that things I have done worked. So there’s nothing unusual or fantastic. I’m the same person. I still drive the same type of car. I live in the same house. Most of the money I made has gone back to Africa, or is going back to Africa.” And this humility is perhaps a greater wealth than Ibrahim could possibly imagine.