The Finance Minister has faulted the process that made a medical doctor the world’s top banker
Minister of finance, Ngozi okonjo-Iweala, has lambasted the process for selecting the World Bank President stating that the process lacks merit.
Speaking earlier today, during the public presentation of the 2012 Budget, the former World Bank Managing Director could not hide her disappointment.
“You know this thing is not really being decided on merit,” she said, “It is voting with political weight and shares and therefore the United States will get it.”
The World Bank went on to announce Jim Yong Kim as its President, ending weeks of speculation about whether the leadership of the world’s most powerful financial institution will finally move from American hands.
Okonjo-Iweala stated stated that she was happy that her nomination has helped infuse some change into the selection process, despite the inability of a third world country to produce a candidate yet again.
“It will never ever be the same again,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
“So we have won a big victory. Who gets to run the World Bank – we have shown we can contest this thing and Africa can produce people capable of running the entire architecture,” she added.
Her opinion was echoed by South African Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, who stated that the nomination of Ocampo and Okonjo-Iweala had indeed helped reshape the whole process.
“We have come some way because it’s no longer in the smoke-filled rooms of Europe and the US that the spoils are shared between the IMF and World Bank positions, between those two centers of power. This time the invitation was open to anybody to nominate a candidate.”
Sly is a social commentator who resides in Lagos and currently works as a relationship manager for a financial institution.
