How Mo Ibrahim Pioneered Telecoms in Africa

When Mo Ibrahim said he wanted to build telecommunications for the African continent, he was laughed at and told he was an idiot.

Do you know that there is an award that rewards good governance in Africa by African leaders that is higher than the Nobel prize in any field? If you find it surprising that such an award exists, you will be more surprised about how little is known about African billionaire behind the award: MO Ibrahim. Fun fact: if you use or enjoy mobile telecommunications service in Africa today, you should be thankful to this man. Today, our focus is on the pioneer of telecommunications in Africa.

When Mo Ibrahim said he wanted to build telecommunications for the African continent, he was laughed at and told he was an idiot. He was told that Africa does not have a market for mobile telephones. He was told that a people who have to live on less than $1 per day cannot afford to think about phones. Mo proved his critics wrong. His journey to proving them wrong is a story of determination, persistence and the fire of an African man.

Sir Mohammed Fathi Ahmed Ibrahim was born on Mays 3, 1946, in Sudan. He is the second of five children, four of which are boys. It was easy for his family to move to Alexandria from Sudan, because they were of Nubian descent. (Nubians ancestral lands stretch from southern Egypt to northern Sudan).  While in Egypt, his father was employed as a clerk by a cotton-trade organization. His mother, Aida, was uncompromisingly vocal about affording all her children sound education. The family of seven where cramped in a small apartment and as a result had to put up with the stifling heat which lasted for most of the warmer parts of the year.

As a child, MO idolized Albert Einstein so much that he wanted to become a renowned scientist too. He had to change his mind, when he won a partial scholarship to study in the university of Alexandria. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. In 1971, and At the age of 25 MO began an internship with The International Telecommunications Union, a regulatory body in Geneva, Switzerland.

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