In the final analysis, finding a way to do clean business and not to pay bribes actually improves your bottom line.
— Mo Ibrahim
When you ask people what they think of Africa, they think of AIDS, genocide, disasters, famine.
Far from being hopeless, Africa is full of hope and potential, maybe more so than any other continent. The challenge is to ensure that its potential is utilised.
Almost every country in Africa has now instituted multi-party democracy.
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.
If Sudan starts to crumble, the shock waves will spread.
More people smile at me now I'm richer.
It was a no-brainer that the cellular route would be a great success in Africa.
Rule of law is the most important element in any civil society.
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.
Behind every corrupt politician are 10-20 corrupt businessmen.
The problem is that many times people suspend their common sense because they get drowned in business models and Harvard business school teachings.
Experience shows that when political governance and economic management diverge, overall development becomes unsustainable.
Africa should not again face isolation or stigmatisation based on ignorance and unrepresentative imagery.
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.
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.
From my father, I learnt kindness and how to talk straight.
I ended up being a businessman unwittingly. I wanted to be an academic; I wanted to be like Einstein.
Roads are not practical in Africa.
I really don't have heroes in business; I never looked up at business people.
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.
Educational opportunities have supported the rise of the African middle class, the professional cadre of young people who are now willing and able to contribute to Africa's future prosperity.
The fight against Ebola cannot undermine the fight against poverty.
Sudan cannot afford to be on the wrong side of history. The north and south will have to work together, but will they?
People never confess to failure. They should.
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.
I came to the conclusion that unless you are ruled properly, you cannot move forward. Everything else is second. Everything.
Remember, 2000 was the year of the dot-com bust. The telecom industry lost about $2 trillion in market capital at that time.
