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Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Marina Santee.
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And I'm Ruby Jones. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Strong will. Purpose. Desire. Belief. These are qualities of many a successful business person. In today's Spotlight we look at the work of one extremely successful business man - Mohammed Ibrahim. We tell how his work is influencing the economy and politics of Africa!
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Grace Wachira smiles. She has found another happy customer. Grace manages a small business in her village in central Kenya. She makes warm clothes to sell. She travels several hours to the nearest town to buy the material. She also travels several hours to sell her clothes. In the past she made the long trips and simply hoped the right people would be in town. Sometimes they were there. And sometimes they were not there. Then she had a wasted trip. But this was in the days before her mobile telephone...
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Mobile phones, cell phones, hand phones! Whatever you call them - you probably have one! For Grace Wachira, the mobile phone has completely changed her business. Today, she uses her mobile phone to order material and to communicate with buyers. Almost every trader and farmer in her village has a mobile telephone - or one they can borrow! People can use their phones because of a tall red and white tower building. It stands on a hill nearby. The tower is a mobile-phone base station. It enables mobile telephones to work in the area. This technology is changing the economy in a fast and amazing way across Africa.
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Cellular-news is a leading wireless telecom news group. In June 2008, the group stated that Africa now has 300 million mobile phone subscribers! However, Sub-Saharan Africa has been slower in receiving mobile telephones. Many phone companies chose not to operate there at first. They believed that the markets were too small or too poor to be worth their investment. However, not all companies believed this to be true. One of these was Celtel. The man behind the company's success is Mohammed Ibrahim.
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Mohammed Ibrahim was born in Sudan. He studied mobile communications in England. Mohammed started his own telephone company in 1989: Mobile Systems International, or MSI. This organisation provided expert advice to its customers. Later, MSI-Cellular Investments developed from this company. It specialised in developing mobile phone services in African countries. This was something that other companies had been afraid to do. Many major phone operators thought that African markets were too small or poor to be worthwhile. They were not willing to take the risk. However, where others saw risks, Mohammed saw chances. He knew that there was a lack of telephone land lines in Africa. And he knew that this would make mobile phones very important there. He said:
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‘Clearly there is a big divide between what people think and what is real when it comes to Africa. When you ask people what they think of Africa, they think of AIDS, genocide, disasters, starving people. Yes, Africa has its fair share of tragic events. But Africa has 53 countries. There are really peaceful parts of the continent. There are quite reasonable governments in many countries.'
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In 2004, MSI-Cellular Investments took the name ‘Celtel.' Celtel reached over 15 countries in Africa. It had over 750 million dollars in investments. Celtel became the leading phone operator in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Mohammed Ibrahim sold Celtel in 2005. The buyer was Middle Eastern telephone company Zain. The price was 3,400,000,000 dollars!
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So what is Mohammed Ibrahim doing with his time (and money) now? He is putting his energy into something that he believes is the key to good business - good governance.
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‘Good governance and democracy are central to Africa's development. Without them, it will be hard for any African countries to reach the Millennium Development goals by 2015. That is why the aim of the Mo Ibrahim organisation is so important. Thanks to Mo Ibrahim's idea the organisation can add to the growing movement to build honest and forward thinking African leaders.'
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These are the words of Nelson Mandela. He is talking about Mohammed Ibrahim's organisation - the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. This organisation centres on good governance. Governance is the method of management. Managers exist at all levels of society - heads of families, community leaders, political leaders, heads of state - presidents! The Mo Ibrahim Foundation seeks to encourage good governance in several ways:
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It encourages debate on good governance across sub-Saharan Africa and the world.
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It provides guidelines so that citizens can make sure their governments are responsible.
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It recognises achievement in African leadership.
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It is this last activity that has created particular public interest. One of the ways the organisation recognises achievement is in the ‘Mo Ibrahim Awards.'
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The Mo Ibrahim award is for African leaders who have demonstrated good governance. The winner receives 5 million dollars. The winner also receives 200,000 dollars every year for the rest of his or her life!
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A group of judges chooses the winner. In 2008 there were six judges. The leading judge was Kofi Annan - former Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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The judges used the Ibrahim Index of African Governance to choose the winner. This system is based on five requirements:
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One - safety and security.
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Two - rule of law, open, honest dealings.
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Three - involvement in human rights.
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Four - building an economy that will last.
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Five - human development.
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The award winner of 2008 was Festus Mogae, the former president of Botswana. Kofi Annan said they chose him for his excellent leadership. Botswana had a severe HIV/AIDS crisis. It threatened the future of the country and the people. However Festus' good leadership managed to keep the country secure.
Kofi Annan said:
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‘Botswana demonstrates how a country with natural resources can encourage lasting development with good governance. This is on a continent where too often mineral wealth has become an evil curse.'
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Mo Ibrahim believes that their work shows that honest business and good governance works. He says:
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‘I think we proved the point. People can do honest work in Africa. They can help create jobs, create wealth, build the country and make money.'
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