Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to head the judging panel which will select the winner of the new Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.

This was announced in a statement issued from Geneva after the first meeting of the prize committee at the weekend.

The new prize, announced last October, will reward former African heads of government who have left office in the last three years and have demonstrated exemplary leadership. It will be awarded by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, established by the telecommunications entrepeneur of the same name. The foundation bills the prize, worth US$5 million dollars over 10 years, as the largest in the world.

Annan is joined on the prize committee by five other judges: Aïcha Bah Diallo, former education minister in Guinea; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister and foreign minister of Nigeria; Salim Salim, former  Organisation for African Unity chief; Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland; and Mary Robinson, former Irish president and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Annan said in a foundation press release that the committee's task was challenging:

"While developed countries have an important role to play in creating an enabling environment for Africa’s development," he said, "it is for Africa to lead and take ownership of Africa’s development process. Good governance and leadership are central to finding solutions to the vast challenges that face Africa."