Mo Ibrahim Quotes

United States has always been very close to Africa and it's very sad now to see that Africa has a lot more friends - a lot more engagements with the Chinese, with the Indians, with the Brazilians as the United States retreats. Actually, Africa is a wonderful place to do business and American business is missing a big opportunity by really overlooking Africa.

The state and its elites must be subject, in theory and in practice, to the same laws that its poorest citizens are.

The issue with international institutions is that there is a crisis of legitimacy. Trust in these institutions is a serious problem.

Women in Africa are really the pillar of the society, are the most productive segment of society, actually. Women do kids. Women do cooking. Women doing everything. And yet, their position in society is totally unacceptable. And the way African men treat African women is total unacceptable.

The U.S. has been a great friend all these years, but as soon as Africa found itself starting to move up, the U.S. is really disengaging.

If a European guy came to Africa and said hey guys, you don't have good - people could tell him to go to hell. You are an imperialist. You are a colonialist. Who are the hell are you to come and tell us what to do? I'm an African. Whatever I say nobody in Africa tell me well, it's not of your business. It is my business.

The way forward for Africa is investment.

Governance is everything. Without governance we have nothing

I came to the conclusion that unless you are ruled properly, you cannot move forward. Everything else is second. Everything.

People never confess to failure. They should.

The mobile industry changed Africa.

There is a crisis of leadership and governance in Africa, and we must face it.

The problem is that many times people suspend their common sense because they get drowned in business models and Harvard business school teachings.

You get over your first love by falling in love with something new.

Behind every corrupt politician are 10-20 corrupt businessmen.

I made money. I wanted to give it back to Africa but I wanted to give it back in a meaningful way. So I really want to do something which deals with the root of the problem of hunger, of disease, of ills we have in our society.