2018 Ibrahim Governance Weekend
Kigali, Rwanda
The Ibrahim Governance Weekend (IGW) brings together leading voices from across Africa and beyond to discuss issues of critical importance to the continent’s progress.
The focus this year was on public services in 21st century Africa: their key relation to good governance and effective leadership, new challenges and current shortcomings, the ways and means to strengthen them and make them appealing to the next generation.
Without strong public services and committed civil servants, at local, national, regional or continental levels, there will be no efficient delivery of expected public goods and services, nor implementation of any commitment, however strongly voiced.
2018 IGW highlights
2018 IGW events
African Leadership Ceremony
Friday, 27 April
The Ibrahim Prize celebrates excellence in African leadership. It is awarded to a former Executive Head of State or Government by an independent Prize Committee.
The 2017 Prize was awarded to former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who becomes the first woman to receive the award.
The Prize Committee found that, confronted with unprecedented and renewed challenges, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf demonstrated exceptional and transformative leadership.
Over the last decade, Liberia was the only country, out of 54, to improve in every category and sub-category of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance.
She courageously embraced opponents and fought for generational change, and paved the way for her successor to follow.
2018 Leadership Ceremony
Ibrahim Forum
Saturday, 28 April
This year's discussion was organised around three sessions:
- Session 1: Growing expectations for public delivery
- Session 2: Assessing the current supply of public services
- Session 3: Building a sound contract between citizens and public service providers.
Each session was joined by a representative of the Next Generation Forum, held the day before around the same topic and issues. The sessions were punctuated with one-on-one conversations between Mo and Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia; Sanjay Pradhan, CEO, Open Government Partnership; and H.E. President Paul Kagame, Chair of the African Union.
H.E. Paul Kagame on the Ibrahim Governance Weekend
Session 1: Growing expectations for public delivery
The first session identified the demand addressed to African public services in 21st Century. What are citizens’ expectations, current and new (safety and security, health, education, justice, but also peace, solidarity, protection against any threat, jobs, business enabling environment, culture, climate change mitigation, rural sector development...). Who should be responsible for addressing these demands (African Union, Regional communities, national governments, cities, private sector, multilateral donors...), and who is going to pay for the delivery.
Chair: Nancy Kacungira, Presenter, BBC News
| Donald Kaberuka | Managing Partner, Chairman and Managing Partner, Southbridge Partners; former President, African Development Bank |
| Herman Mashaba | Mayor of Johannesburg |
| Ibrahim Mayaki | CEO, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency; former Prime Minister of Niger |
| Jennifer Musisi | Executive Director, Kampala Capital City Authority |
| Yvonne Apea Mensah | MIF Fellow; Head of Africa, Political Division, Commonwealth Secretariat |
Mo in conversation with... Hailemariam Desalegn
Session 2: Assessing the current supply of public services
The second session assessed the current state of African public services, the key challenges that need to be addressed, both from the job attractiveness side: salaries, career, mobility, working environment..., and from the delivery side: skills, efficiency, corruption..., and the potential solutions and best practices that can be explored: monetary and non-monetary incentives, capacity building, internal and external mobility, new technologies... The session will also touch upon the challenges of building public services and capacities in post-conflict settings.
Chair: Ngaire Woods, Dean, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University
| Trevor Manuel | Deputy Chairman of South Africa, Rothschild Group; former Finance Minister, South Africa |
| Mariana Mazzucato | Founder and Director, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, UCL |
| Winifred Oyo-Ita | Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Nigeria |
| Fanfan Rwanyindo Kayirangwa | Minister of Public Service and Labour, Rwanda |
| Betsy Williams | Founder, President's Young Professionals Program of Liberia (PYPP) |
| Adesoji Solanke | MIF Scholar; MBA candidate, London Business School |
Mo in conversation with Sanjay Pradhan, CEO, Open Government Partnership (OGP)
Session 3: Building a sound contract between citizens and public service providers
The last session discussed how to build a sound contract between citizens and public service providers, making sure that the supply is answering the demand, embedding accountability through monitoring mechanisms and strengthening ownership through the tax contract.
Chair: Nancy Kacungira, Presenter, BBC News
| Aya Chebbi | Founder, Afrika Youth Movement |
| Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala | Chair of the Board, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI); former Finance Minister, Nigeria |
| Akere Muna | Chair, International Anti-Corruption Conference Council |
| Jay Naidoo | Founding General Secretary, COSATU; Trustee, Earthrise Trust |
| Barkha Mossae | MIF Scholar; Diplomat, Second Secretary, Embassy of Mauritius, Addis Ababa |
Mo in conversation with... Paul Kagame
Next Generation Forum
Friday, 27 April
This year saw the inaugural NGF (or Next Generation Forum) meeting, where over over 70 young Africans from 32 countries, studying or working in the public or private sector, met ahead of the high-level Ibrahim Forum to offer the experiences and perspectives of young Africans.
2018 NGF highlights
Concert
Sunday, 29 April
As part of the Ibrahim Governance Weekend celebrations a spectacular public concert took place showcasing some of the best performers of the continent including Peter P Square, The Ben and Sauti Sol.
2018 concert
