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Mo Ibrahim Rewards Mandela-Style Governance In Africa

Mo Ibrahim Rewards Mandela-Style Governance In Africa

Nelson Mandela is one-of-a-kind, but the principles by which he governed — democracy, constitutional republicanism, the rule of law, equality– need not be.

Unfortunately, Africa has seen far more Robert Mugabes than Nelson Mandelas, who rule by brute force and do not step down when the law or elections say it is their time.

Hoping to confront an African crisis of governance, Sudanese billionaire and telecommunications mogul Mo Ibrahim in 2006 created the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and its centerpiece, the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.

The requirements of the Ibrahim Prize stem from the economic incentive structure for many African leaders.

While there is a tendency to think of those who overstay their constitutionally mandated terms as desperately clinging to power, there is also a tremendous economic incentive to remain in office.

Many leaders emerge from relative or complete poverty before gaining the support of their countrymen and their office. This can make the prospect of leaving the office, with its high pay and benefits, seem particularly unacceptable.

The Ibrahim Prize is awarded annually. Eligible candidates are former leaders of African countries who demonstrated exceptional leadership, left office in the previous three years, were democratically elected and served out a constitutionally mandated term.

Winners receive an initial payment of $5 million paid out over the first 10 years, with annual payments of $200,000 annually for the remainder of their lives. Ibrahim Award winners can also petition for an additional $200,000 annually for charitable activities. It is thought to be the most lucrative award in the world, greatly surpassing the $1.3 million paid out to recipients of Nobel Prizes.

Ibrahim is not the first person to understand the importance of economics in a leader’s decision making. Former U.S. presidents currently earn almost $200,000 annually, with increases tied to the salary of cabinet secretaries, for the remainder of their lives.

This was not always the case. The U.S. presidential pension scheme was first introduced in 1912 in response to industrialist Andrew Carnegie’s offer to provide $25,000 (almost $600,000 by today’s standards) annually to former presidents.

While Congress deemed this inappropriate in 1912 and introduced legislation to provide the funds from the treasury, the body would not approve a pension scheme until 1959, when President Harry Truman, himself in relative poverty after his time in the White House, was forced to consider lending his name to commercial ventures — something the legislature was unwilling to accept.

Of course, Truman lending his name to a soap company and potentially dishonoring the presidency is not the same ill that Ibrahim seeks to prevent.

The requirements of the Ibrahim Prize stem from the unique economic incentive structure for many African leaders. While there is a tendency to think of those who overstay their constitutionally mandated terms as desperately clinging to power, there is also a tremendous economic incentive to remain in office. Many leaders emerge from relative or complete poverty before gaining the support of their countrymen and their office. This can make the prospect of leaving the office, with its high pay and benefits, seem particularly unacceptable.

Unfortunately, over the past few years, the prize has simply served as one more metric proving the failure of governance across the continent. Over the last five years there has been only one winner — Pedro Pires of Cape Verde in 2011. In fact, since the award’s inception in 2007 there have been only three winners, with Mandela being made an honorary laureate in 2007.

Despite the lack of award recipients, Ibrahim insists that his prize is having an effect. In fact, even this year when no prize was awarded, the Ibrahim Foundation’s governance indicators, combining four prongs of human development, sustainable economic opportunity, participation and human rights and safety and the rule of law, went up almost universally.

Ibrahim himself heralded a “new generation of African leaders” who take democracy, human rights and development very seriously.

When Nelson Mandela stepped down from his presidency in 1999, he did so in an attempt to set a tradition of multiparty and contested democracy.

He saw this as his role in holding his country together and creating a viable and robust democracy. When Obama paid tribute to Mandela, he spoke glowingly of the leadership and strength of character.

Ibrahim, using his business acumen, understood the difficult incentive structure facing African leaders and set out to change it.

Since the inception of the Ibrahim Prize, there has been significant improvement in governance in Africa, Ibrahim said. His vision will continue to be an incentive for improvements throughout the continent.