Mo Ibrahim Quotes

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Mo Ibrahim

Profession : Businessman

Birth : May 3, 1946

I think the Cold War was worse for Africa than colonialism.

Mo Ibrahim

I left Sudan when I was 25 or 26 years old. If I had stayed, I would never have ended up being an entrepreneur. You can have the qualities, but if you don't have the environment, you just wither away. It's like a fish: take it out of water, it will not survive.

Mo Ibrahim

Remember, 2000 was the year of the dot-com bust. The telecom industry lost about $2 trillion in market capital at that time.

Mo Ibrahim

Roads are not practical in Africa.

Mo Ibrahim

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

Mo Ibrahim

I ended up being a businessman unwittingly. I wanted to be an academic; I wanted to be like Einstein.

Mo Ibrahim

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

Mo Ibrahim

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.

Mo Ibrahim

From my father, I learnt kindness and how to talk straight.

Mo Ibrahim

People never confess to failure. They should.

Mo Ibrahim

Sudan has been an experiment that resonated across Africa: if we, the largest country on the continent, reaching from the Sahara to the Congo, bridging religions, cultures and a multitude of ethnicities, were able to construct a prosperous and peaceful state from our diverse citizenry, so too could the rest of Africa.

Mo Ibrahim

Sudan cannot afford to be on the wrong side of history. The north and south will have to work together, but will they?

Mo Ibrahim

A narrative that branded Africa as little more than an economic, political and social basket case was not likely to provide the investment needed to drive development.

Mo Ibrahim

Increasing extremism - across Africa and the world - must be understood in the context of the failure of our leaders properly to manage diversity within their borders.

Mo Ibrahim

The fight against Ebola cannot undermine the fight against poverty.

Mo Ibrahim

Africa should not again face isolation or stigmatisation based on ignorance and unrepresentative imagery.

Mo Ibrahim

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

Mo Ibrahim

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

Mo Ibrahim

I don't even have a small boat. I don't even have a toy boat in my bathtub. I don't have a biplane, I don't have anything. Those things are toys, and I don't need them to be happy.

Mo Ibrahim

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

Mo Ibrahim