Mozambique: Former President Chissano accepts the $5 million Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership

On Monday 26 November, Mozambique’s former President Joachim Chissano became the inaugural winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Recipients of the Mo Ibrahim Prize will get a massive $500,000 a year in their first 10 years out of office, and $200,000 a year for the rest of their lives. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation uses the Ibrahim Index of African Governance as a tool for measuring governance in 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The Ibrahim Index developed as a project of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, assesses each country against 58 measures, including safety and security, rule of law, sustainable economic development and human development. Mo Ibrahim states, "We are shining a light on governance in Africa, and in so doing we are making a unique contribution to improving the quality of governance. The Ibrahim Index is a tool to hold governments to account and frame the debate about how we are governed. Africans are setting benchmarks not only for their own continent, but for the world."

Many see the award as belittling and insulting to Africans as it suggests challenges associated with good governance and dictatorship are unique to the African Continent. Some also note that there are countless more urgent causes in Africa that would be more deserving of such a lucrative award.