Alert! First it was the NLNG Literary Award in Nigeria, now it’s the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, a $5 million mega-award given annually “to a former African executive Head of State or Government who has demonstrated excellence in African leadership”. Annually, that is, except in 2009: for this year, as has just been announced, there ain’t no prize.
What next in this strangely titillating series of anti-climaxes? No Big Brother Africa winner?
The official statement from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which makes the award, is as bland as a plate of boiled morogo:
“The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is committed to supporting great African leadership that will improve the economic and social prospects of the people of Africa. The Foundation’s focus is the promotion of good governance in Africa and the recognition of excellence in African leadership.
The Prize Committee welcomed the progress made on governance in some African countries while noting with concern recent setbacks in other countries.
This year the Prize Committee has considered some credible candidates. However, after in-depth review, the Prize Committee could not select a winner.”
You can watch an equally scintillating video of the announcement at the BBC.
No disrespect to Africa was intended, said the foundation. Africa duly smiled and said it was “Ok”, and they shook hands, and went for a Coke. Meanwhile, the BBC provided insight into the possible reasons for why the five million bucks was kept in the bank (earning, what, 8%? maybe 11%?) this year:
But our analyst says recent evidence of the prize’s effectiveness across Africa is not encouraging.
Uganda, Chad and Cameroon have all changed their constitutions so their leaders can retain their positions.
There have been coups in Guinea, Mauritania and Madagascar, as well as several elections that fell well short of international standards.
And the countries that have received most praise from Mo Ibrahim’s foundation this year – Mauritius, Cape Verde and Seychelles – are far from the continent’s centres of power.
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