WASHINGTON — The World Bank on Monday named as its next president Jim Yong Kim, a global health expert and the president of Dartmouth College, in a widely expected appointment that continues the longstanding tradition of an American leading the Washington-based development institution.
Jim Yong Kim was named the next president of the World Bank, and will replace Robert B. Zoellick at the end of June.
Dr. Kim, 52, will take over on July 1 after the current president, Robert B. Zoellick, steps down at the end of his five-year term.
While the selection of Dr. Kim by the bank's 25-member executive board was no surprise, the board had, for the first time, considered more than one candidate, a reflection of the increasing clout of emerging-market nations on the global stage.
‘‘The old order has triumphed yet again, but this may be its last hurrah,’’ said Eswar S. Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University. ‘‘The tradition of carving up the top jobs at the major international financial institutions among nominees of advanced countries has become untenable and unjustifiable.’’
Numerous African countries had rallied around Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian finance minister and former World Bank managing director. José Antonio Ocampo, the former Colombian central banker and United Nations official, was also a candidate, though he withdrew from the race and threw his support behind Ms. Okonjo-Iweala on Friday.
Ms. Okonjo-Iweala and Mr. Ocampo always faced long odds, given the composition of the World Bank board: Europe, the United States and Japan control about half of the voting shares. But their candidacies reignited a debate over Washington’s continued control of the institution.
The bank itself has granted more power recently to countries like China, Brazil and India, as these cash-rich and fast-growing economies are called on to finance development programs and multilateral institutions, not just to receive financing from them. In 2010, the World Bank increased the relative voting share of emerging economies. It also committed to an open, transparent and merit-based presidential selection process.
But those changes have not yet resulted in a non-American rising to the top of the organization. Traditionally, an American oversees the World Bank, which finances a wide variety of private and public development projects, while a European heads the International Monetary Fund.
A number of prominent development and aid groups had criticized the race for remaining unfairly skewed to the American nominee’s benefit. The two candidates from emerging-market countries had also critiqued the selection process.
‘‘It is clear that the process is shifting from a strict merit-based competition, in which my candidacy stood on strong grounds, into a more political-orientated exercise,’’ Mr. Ocampo said in his statement withdrawing from the race.
In a statement, the World Bank’s board said that each of the nominees had ‘‘received support from different member countries, which reflected the high caliber of the candidates.’’ But they did not indicate whether any of the 25 board members had pressed for Ms. Okonjo-Iweala or Mr. Ocampo, rather than supporting Dr. Kim. Traditionally, the board comes to a decision by consensus.
After the White House nominated Dr. Kim in March, he went on an around-the-world “listening tour” to rally support for his candidacy. Dr. Kim ultimately won the support of countries including Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
In a recent interview, Dr. Kim stressed that he wanted to make the bank as inclusive as possible, while achieving its mission of eradicating poverty and supporting economic development.
He also said he wanted to make the bank’s programs more data-driven. “There’s no one-size-fits-all. There’s no big idea that will lead to economic growth for everybody,” he said. “I think we must be evidence-based and evidence-driven, and we must pay attention to local contexts.”
Dr. Kim is a lauded global health expert, a physician and anthropologist by training. He is a founder of Partners In Health, a nonprofit that runs community-focused health programs in poor countries. He also worked at Harvard University and the World Health Organization, where he spearheaded a program to deliver antiretroviral treatments to people living with H.I.V./AIDS. Since 2009, he has been the president of Dartmouth College.
Dr. Kim is also the first World Bank president to come from a developing economy. His family emigrated to the United States from an impoverished and war-torn Korea.
‘‘I’ve worked for years trying to help countries achieve the same economic growth I saw in Korea,’’ Dr. Kim said. ‘‘What I bring to the bank, which is a very special bank, is this unshakable optimism that countries can go down the same path I saw Korea go down.’’
‘‘Jim has seen poverty and vulnerability first-hand, through his impressive work in developing countries,’’ Mr. Zoellick, the bank’s current president, said in a statement. ‘‘His rigorous, science-based drive for results will be invaluable for the World Bank Group as it modernizes to better serve client countries in overcoming poverty.’’
The White House selected Dr. Kim for his hands-on experience in poor countries. Senior administration officials said President Barack Obama was drawn to him as a practitioner, rather than a foreign-policy hand or a banker, like previous World Bank presidents.
‘‘Dr. Kim has a lifetime of experience solving complex problems,’’ the United States Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, said in a statement. ‘‘His deep development background coupled with his dedication to forging consensus will help breathe new life into the World Bank’s efforts to secure fast economic growth that is widely shared.’’
The World Bank board made its decision in advance of its spring meetings, held jointly with the International Monetary Fund later this week.
NY Times
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u gave us a wrong info earlier that okonjo-iweala has won the contest to be Pres. of the world bank, even quoting a statement from her.It was wrong to mislead your readers.
ReplyDeleteIt is not unexpected but even with that, I still congratulate Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for been considered for the top job in the first place. It shows that the international community recognises her management dexterity and good corporate governance.
ReplyDeletefor me she still remains d best candidate.
ReplyDeletewelldone, a woman worthy of emulation.
Nonsense, okonjo my foot..wat does she know about poverty eradication and economy development? See the way she went about subsidyremoval, has it not made nigeria. A poorer state, u just wake up one morning and impose trash on our developing economy. She must tink pple in US and all over the world dint see wat happened in january!
ReplyDeletekingsley okolie
ReplyDeletemadam u try been second,i congratulate u,despite d corruption in nigeria,d world still recognises u as a global person wit integrity,other women shld emulate u
World Bank President is a political appointment, those appointing have the power and the money and have appointed one of their own for the past 60 years. As they will most likely do for the next 60 years.
ReplyDeleteNgozi is a big woman in Nigeria, but in reality has not proven herself either at the World Bank, in Nigeria Government or in Nigerian Politics.
What are her accomplishments? Heading the team that bought out Nigeria's debt at $0.40 on the dollar and trumpeted as debt forgiveness. Removal of petrosubsidy, Getting out Nigeria's budget on time, preventing dishonest people stealing her budget? Not that Kim has any accomplishments either. Both are equally mediocre.
I am not surprised by the result at all. Nigeria leaders are just too corrupt. How can anybody ever trust people in this country? It is just unfortunate that Dr Ngozi is from this part of the world where corruption is celebrated and treated with kid gloves. Just imagine a court judge in Britain calling Ibori a former governor, a common petty thief (which of course is true). A case that would have been thrown aside if it were handled in this corrupt ridden country. Any time I reflect about the activities of this country I get sick. The world is watching they cant trust a single Nigerian because Nigeria is a farce. I hate our leaders (except for a very few like Dr Ngozi and Ribadu)with all my strength
ReplyDeleteCongratulation Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. You have done our country good, though you did not win the race. For being recognized at that level, to compete for the world bank presidency is not just game for child's play. Never mind the sadist who criticized you. What have they offered or contributed to the betterment of their neighbors, talk less of our country Nigeria. You are really an Icon. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteI wished she did not come back to take up any post in Nigeria after brilliant performance under OBJ. This should be signal for whoever has better future never to join corrupt group.
ReplyDeleteWe all praised her under OBJ but today those who called her to return rubbished her reputation. I am 100% sure she would have succeeded if she remain in the bank till now.
Well, she can still repair here damaged reputation by exposing those enemies of our NATION in government.
i said it......okonjie.....one of d greatest Nigerians political thiefs.....promise and fail...etc...so aw will u win...shun..dats d best candidate in d absense of any other better one ..as fo wahala..error...she is just an ambitious person nt a problem solver...i luv this..thk God for saving Nigerians future embarrasment
ReplyDelete