Amongst the nomination for this year’s award are former heads of state of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo; Sierra Leone, Tejan Kabbah; Botswana, Festus Mogae and Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa.
These former head of states that have left office in the past three years would be awarded the sum of $5m prize for good governance. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is to announce the winner of the prize for a retired president in London.
The winner after receiving a cash sum of $5m will also get $200,000 a year for the rest of his life.
Mr Ibrahim’s foundation recently issued a report which said governance had improved in most African countries. The Ibrahim index, based on data from 2006, listed Mauritius as the best-governed out of 48 African countries and Liberia as the most improved. Somalia was ranked last, a place behind the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Ibrahim Prize created by Mo Ibrahim, Sudan-born telecoms entrepreneur to award Africa’s finest leaders is today the most valuable individual annual prize in the world. Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano won the first prize last year.
