Kim Named World Bank President
American Jim Yong Kim was tapped Monday to be the next president of the World Bank, besting Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala following the first-ever challenge to the U.S. nominee in the institution’s history.
The bank’s board of directors said the multiple candidacies “enriched the discussion of the role of the President and of the World Bank Group’s future direction.”
Kim’s victory was widely expected, given the voting structure of the bank.
Throughout its more-than-60-year history, the bank has been led by an American, part of a tacit agreement between the United States and its Western European allies. Europe, in turn, has maintained control of the International Monetary Fund.
The United States and Europe together have roughly 50% of voting shares, which are based on money paid into the bank.
But the challenges from Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian finance head Jose Antonio Ocampo — who withdrew from the race last week and endorsed the Nigerian — raised questions about how much longer the current leadership arrangement will remain tenable.
In 2010, the United States and other World Bank shareholder-countries pledged support for an “open, merit-based and transparent” selection process. Such declarations have been met with cynicism by emerging market nations, however.
In a statement last week withdrawing his candidacy, Ocampo said the selection process was “shifting from a strict merit-based competition … into a more political-oriented exercise.”
Kim drew criticism following his nomination from some observers who said his lack of financial background made him ill-suited to run the bank. The institution, created in 1944, provides billions of dollars worth of financial assistance for projects worldwide ranging from health to education to private-sector development.
In contrast to previous heads of the institution, who have typically come from the economics or business worlds, Kim is a doctor who built his reputation developing public health programs for poor countries.
He’s currently the president of Dartmouth University, having previously worked at the World Health Organization and co-founded the non-profit organization Partners In Health.