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Ex-Botswanan leader wins prize

Former Botswanan president Festus Mogae speaks at the Southern African Development Community summit on Aug. 18, 2005, in Gaborone, Botswana. PHOTO: AFP

He took an AIDS test publicly despite a deep stigma in Africa against the disease. He pressed to cut the prevalence of mothers passing the HIV virus onto their babies. He fought to make more anti-retroviral drugs available.

Former Botswanan president Festus Gontebanye Mogae was honored on Monday with a multimillion-dollar prize for leading a campaign to tackle one of the world’s highest HIV infection rates.

Mogae, who led the diamond-rich south African country from 1998 until resigning this year, won the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The prize, in its second year, is aimed at recognizing and promoting good governance in Africa.

He has already received widespread praise for tackling Botswana’s high HIV/AIDS infection rate — at an estimated 23.9 percent of the adult population, the world’s second-highest behind Swaziland.

In sharp contrast to other African leaders, Mogae addressed the issue of AIDS in almost every one of his speeches.

Today, the number of children being infected with HIV by their mothers in Botswana has dropped from as high as about 40 percent to 4 percent and anti-AIDS drugs are reaching most of those who need it. Lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs are known locally as “Mogae’s tablets.”

Mogae will receive US$5 million over 10 years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. The foundation giving the prize will consider granting a further US$200,000 annually for 10 years to causes that Mogae supports.

The foundation was created by Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-born billionaire who founded the African telecommunications company Celtel International.

Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan praised Mogae for his leadership on health and economic issues.

“Botswana demonstrates how a country with natural resources can promote sustainable development with good governance, in a continent where too often mineral wealth has become a curse,” Annan said.

An Oxford-educated economist, Mogae presided over a decade of economic growth and political stability as he privatized parts of the economy.

Mogae was instrumental in making sure Botswana benefited from its mineral wealth by venturing into cutting and polishing diamonds instead of just exporting uncut stones and missing most of the profit.
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