Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese billionaire and the founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, has criticised the African Union’s (AU) leaders about overreliance of foreign donors to run the organisation’s affairs.
Speaking during the 2025 Ibrahim Governance Weekend in Marrakech, Morocco, over the weekend, Ibrahim said it is unacceptable that the majority of the AU’s funding still comes from external sources.
“It’s a disgrace that 70% of the US$650 million annual budget of the African Union is funded by Europeans. When the foreigners fund us, they are ‘development partners’.
“Then tomorrow they are ‘colonisers and imperialists’. We have to be serious. It’s either we have an African Union and fund it, or we all go home,” he said.
The Ibrahim Governance Weekend is an annual event hosted by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and brings together leaders from academia, business, civil society, and government to discuss the governance issues facing the continent.
Former president Hifikepunye Pohamba was awarded the 2014 Ibrahim Prize for his role in forging national cohesion and reconciliation.
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