Festus Mogae, the former President of Botswana, has been named the winner of the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.
Honoured for good leadership; Festus Mogae
Announcing the 2008 Ibrahim Laureate in London on Monday, 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 saying, "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 was established by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in October 2006 as an initiative to support great African leadership. 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.
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."
In October 2007, Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique, became the inaugural Ibrahim Laureate.
The announcement of this year's Ibrahim Laureate comes a fortnight after the publication of the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance. Assessed against 57 criteria, the Ibrahim Index ranks sub-Saharan African nations according to governance performance. This year's index found that around two thirds of African countries have improved in the field of governance over the past year.
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