Namibia president Hifikepunye Pohamba wins Mo Ibrahim prize

The annual Mo Ibrahim prize for Achievement in Africa Leadership 2014, worth $5 million over 10 years and $200,000 a year for life for the winner, has been awarded to Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation had declined to give out its award to any of the African leaders in the last two years and the third time since its inception in 2007 on grounds that none deserved the honour.

The prize committee said Pohamba had among other things shown commitment to the rule of law, robust poverty eradication strategies, high governance index and affirmative action – 48 per cent of parliamentarians are women.

The last African leader to win the prize was former Cape Verde president Pedro Verona Pires in 2011.