2023 Ibrahim Governance Weekend - recap

The Foundation was thrilled to be back on the continent again for the 2023 Ibrahim governance Weekend (IGW) in Nairobi, Kenya, from 28-30 April. We hosted an incredible series of events that brought together global representation from political leadership, civil society and the private sector for open and thought-provoking debate and discussion.

Watch the 2023 IGW highlights 

African Leadership Ceremony

The 2023 IGW opened with a leadership ceremony, awarding in-person to former president of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, his 2020 Ibrahim Prize medal. This offered the opportunity to hear from some of the most prominent voices in global leadership and governance on the challenges and prospects facing African leadership.

Ibrahim Forum

Held over the whole Saturday, the 2023 Ibrahim Forum focussed on Global Africa. The first session – Africa in the World: multiple assets – examined Africa’s place in the world, highlighting the continent’s assets and potential, without downsizing the current barriers to achieving this potential.

The second and third sessions – The World in Africa: a growing competition – state and non-state actors – invited conversation from a range of actors present in Africa to expose their interest for the continent.

The fourth and final session – Africa in the multilateral architecture: where is its voice? – explored Africa’s current and future position in the multilateral system, the need to amend both the representativity and efficiency of the current system, and the rise of alternative ‘competitors’ at a multilateral level.

Watch the sessions

Forum Session 1

Forum Session 2

Forum Session 3

Forum Session 4

Mo In conversation with...

In a public one-to-one conversation, Abdalla Hamdok and Mo Ibrahim discussed Sudan’s historic roots of instability, and the conditions and prospects of solving the current crisis.

Mo held another one-to one conversation with H.E. William Ruto, President of Kenya, around the ongoing climate change debate – including the value of creating an efficient carbon market – as well as discussing reforms to the multilateral architecture and processes, such as removing the currently punitive assessment of African risk. They concluded by discussing Kenya’s current political and economic situation and prospects.

Watch the conversations in full

Watch Mo in conversation with... Abdalla Hamdok
 

Watch Mo in conversation with... William Ruto

Concert

The Forum was followed by a public concert on Saturday evening featuring some of the biggest names in African music, including Nyashinski, Femi One, Otile Brown and Youssou N’dour.

Parallel events

Throughout the course of the three days, there were also a series of parallel events discussing key African challenges. Ahead of the Africa Climate Summit, to be hosted by Kenya between 4-6 September 2023, a specific focus was given to the climate topic, with a meeting of the Climate Overshoot Commission, and the launch of the Carbon Market Working Group by the Africa Europe Foundation, which was co-founded in 2020 by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

The IGW also sought to elevate the voices of the youth representatives, by systematically including them in all central debates during the weekend. The Foundation’s Now Generation Network also led a series of parallel events, including an In conversation with... Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, to discuss the need for debt restructuring and reform of the financial multilateral system.