If You Had A Million Dollars…

Mo Ibrahim, 61, opened his eyes a decade ago and saw what few others recognized. That sub-Saharan Africa was the true growing grounds for the cellphone market. He acted on his premonition, created Celtel and went on to sell it for 3.4 billion in 2004.

The Sudanese businessman now wants to open his wallet, take out five million dollar chunks and award it to retiring democratically-elected African leaders. The Achievement in African Leadership Prize aims to give former leaders a life after office, the financial means to keep contributing to society and motivation to leave office with grace, not with fists clinging to power and with legacies of corruption.

“The idea is to give good leaders the strength to stick to their ideals.”

I love these kinds of stories. Stories of people who use the backside of fortune to repay back the society and the places where their wealth sprung. But what I love most about Ibrahim’s story is that he is answering one of my favorite fantasy questions, “If you had millions of dollars, what would you do with it?” Maybe he didn’t ask himself that question, but he’s answering it every time he signs a five million dollar cheque.

I’m so curious about what people would do if financial constraints didn’t exist, say, they had a million dollars, what would they do with it? If they had to give it away, where would it go? If you had the ability to write a five million dollar cheque, with the sole constraint being that it would have to build into something meaningful or fund a worthy movement, who would get it?

What cause or person would you put your money behind?

To read more, go to the Newsweek article online, http://www.newsweek.com/id/41725

Tags: achievement in african leadership prize, africa, african leaders, cellphone, celtel, corruption, fortune, million dollars, mo ibrahim, newsweek