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.

The Nobel Prize is worth $1.5 million, but that's not the issue. Do the distinguished scientists who win the Nobel Prize need the money? Probably not. The honor is more important the money, and that's the case with the prize for African leadership as well.

I never set out really to build a financial empire or to be a wealthy man.

The Zimbabwean people, like everyone else, have a right to live in freedom and prosperity and to select their leaders through fair and democratic elections.

Make as much money as you can, but can you please pay your taxes, because this is a major problem.

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.

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.

Billions of dollars are thrown at African countries.

The leakage of information means you're going to be able to read everybody's e-mail.

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

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.

While the Marshall Plan was important for Europe's recovery, Europe's prosperity was really built on economic integration and policy coherence.