Born on May 3rd, 1946, Sir Mohammed Fathi Ahmed Ibrahim KCMG is a Sudanese-British multibillionaire businessman. Before starting Celtel, which had more than 24 million mobile phone subscribers in 14 African nations when it was sold, he worked for a number of telecoms firms. In 2005, he sold Celtel for $3.4 billion, and he established the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to promote improved governance in Africa. He also developed the Ibrahim Index of African Governance to assess the performance of different countries. Ibrahim is also a member of the London Business School’s regional advisory board for Africa.
The Mo Ibrahim Award for Excellence in African Leadership, which offers $5 million to African heads of state who provide security, health, education, and economic development to their population and democratically transfer power to their successors, was founded by him in 2007. By signing up for The Giving Pledge, Ibrahim has promised to donate at least half of his wealth to charity.
Mo Ibrahim ranks 692nd among the world’s wealthiest people on the Forbes 2011 Billionaire List with a net worth of $1.8 billion. Also, Mo Ibrahim was chosen for the TIME “Top 100” list in 2008 and placed first on the yearly Powerlist of significant Black Britons.
Ibrahim got an electrical engineering bachelor’s degree from Alexandria University. He went back to Sudan and began working for Sudan Telecom. After relocating to England, he obtained a master’s degree in electronics and electrical engineering from the University of Bradford and a PhD in mobile communications from the University of Birmingham.
Ibrahim received honorary doctorates from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 and the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London in 2007.
In the 2023 New Year Honours, Ibrahim received the designation of Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) for his contributions to philanthropy and charity.
