Quotes from Mo Ibrahim

In a world of growing food demand, Africa is home to two-thirds of the world's unexploited arable land.

I come from a typical family.

Women do kids. Women do cooking. Women doing everything. And yet, their position in society is totally unacceptable.

Mobile communications had been around for a long time, but always as a limited market, constrained by the radio spectrum.

I'm uncomfortable, frankly, with the hype about Africa. We went from one extreme... to, like, Africa now is the best thing after sliced bread.

The fight against Ebola cannot undermine the fight against poverty.

Business people get many undeserved prizes - golden parachutes and bonuses even when companies fail. I don't think people should get rewarded for screwing up.

When I was young, there was only one TV channel, sponsored by the government, and it only broadcast things like what the leader had for breakfast. There was no real media.

Nobody in Africa loves to be a beggar or a recipient of aid. Everywhere I go in Africa, people say, 'When are we going to stand up on our feet?'

What is a government supposed to do for its people? To improve the standard of living, to help them get jobs, get kids to schools, and have access to medicine and hospitals. Government may not directly provide these public goods and services, but government must be accountable for whether or not they are delivered to citizens.

Of course, Nelson Mandela, everybody knows Nelson Mandela. I mean, he's a great gift not only for Africa but for the whole world, actually. But do not expect everybody to be a Nelson Mandela.

There's no point in trying to hoard money after life, so better really to share with people.

It was a no-brainer that the cellular route would be a great success in Africa.

I need to be free, to speak the unspeakable. You can't do that in office.

Experience shows that when political governance and economic management diverge, overall development becomes unsustainable.

Africa offers the highest return on investment in the world.

Mexico established a unique three-part governing system shared by the government, the information commission and civil society organisations.

If we are to build grassroots respect for the institutions and processes that constitute democracy, the state must treat its citizens as real citizens rather than as subjects.

I don't subscribe to the narrative that Africa is backward because of colonialism.

Almost every country in Africa has now instituted multi-party democracy.

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.

Most of the money I made has gone back to Africa or is going back to Africa.

Not any amount of aid is going to move Africa forward.

Challenging vested interests requires a government's full commitment.