Mo Ibrahim
Dr. Mohamed "Mo" Ibrahim (born 1946) is a Sudanese-British mobile communications entrepreneur. He worked for several other telecommunications companies before founding Celtel. He set up the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to encourage better governance in Africa, as well as creating the Mo Ibrahim Index, to evaluate nations' performance. He is a member of the Africa Regional Advisory Board of London Business School. In 2007 he initiated an annual award for governance in Africa, which is believed to have total value greater than the Nobel Prize. He and his wife Hania Ibrahim, a former consultant radiologist in the NHS, have a daughter Hadeel and a son Hosh.
Early life and education
Born in the Sudan, Ibrahim earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Alexandria. He started working in England and earned a master's degree from the University of Bradford in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D from the University of Birmingham in mobile communications.[1]
Telecommunications
Ibrahim was employed by British Telecom for a time, and later worked as the technical director for Cellnet, a subsidiary of British Telecom. He lives in London.
In 1989 he founded MSI, a consultancy and software company, which in 2000 was bought by the Marconi Company. MSI had 800 employees, who owned approximately 30% of the stock at the point of its sale; Ibrahim says he gave employees stock as a form of bonus.[2]
In 1998, MSI spun off MSI-Cellular Investments, later renamed Celtel, as a mobile phone operator in Africa.
According to the Forbes "2008 Rich List", Mo Ibrahim is worth $2.5 billion.[3] Mo Ibrahim was selected for the TIME "Top 100" list in 2008. He was also recognised by EE Times in 2008 as one of 35 people, places and things to watch.
Since 2010, Ibrahim has lent his support to the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a UN initiative which aims to spread the full benefits of broadband services to unconnected peoples [4].
Mo Ibrahim Foundation
Ibrahim created the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.[1] In 2007, the Foundation inaugurated the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, with the first recipient former president Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique.[5]
The Foundation publishes the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, ranking the performance of all 53 African countries. Until 2009, the Index took into account only the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Marriage and family
Ibrahim is married to Hania, a former consultant radiologist in the National Health Service, who is setting up a breast cancer hospital in Khartoum. They have a daughter Hadeel Ibrahim, executive director of the foundation, and a son Hosh Ibrahim, an actor.[3]
References
- ^ a b "The Mo Ibrahim Foundation Board". Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
- ^ "Interview with Mo Ibrahim, founder and former Chairman of Celtel". Jeune Afrique, via Celtel.com. Groupe Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
- ^ a b Geraldine Bedell, "The man giving Africa a brighter future", The Observer, February 1, 2009, accessed 5 February 2011
- ^ http://www.broadbandcommission.org/commissioners.html
- ^ "Mozambique ex-leader wins prize". BBC News. 2007-10-22. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
External links
- Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Official Website
- Michela Wrong, "Mo Ibrahim" New Statesman, October 17, 2005
- Profile from the New Yorker
- 1946 births
- African scientists
- Living people
- Academics of the London Business School
- Alumni of the University of Bradford
- Alumni of the University of Birmingham
- British businesspeople
- British engineers
- British philanthropists
- English people of Sudanese descent
- British billionaires
- Sudanese immigrants to the United Kingdom