Former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Monday won the rarely-awarded Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership — the world’s biggest individual prize. The prize only goes to a democratically-elected African leader who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, served their mandated term and left office within the last three years. The 79-year-old won the 2017 Ibrahim Prize, only the second time it has been awarded in six years. Former African Union secretary general Salim Ahmed Salim, chairman of the prize committee, said Sirleaf had changed Liberia’s fortunes. Former South African president Nelson Mandela was made an honorary laureate in 2007.

Source: The Guardian February 12, 2018 11:15 UTC