The World Bank is an American-born financial institution that plays a role in the matters of the world's economy and banking sector. The bank is run by a president that is chosen through a nomination process that has been used for 60 years. While the president of the World Bank has always been an American, this year, the race for the position is heating up a bit.
Jim Yong Kim is the most recent nominee by the United States and Obama. He is the president of Dartmouth University. While he appears to be the favorite for the presidential selection, another contender is also getting some traction in this race. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the finance minister of Nigeria is the other candidate for the position and some people believe that she should be strongly considered for the role.
Kim is widely expected to be the eventual president because of the sway that the United States and Europe have in the process. However, many other countries are calling for Okonjo-Iweala to be the president to represent the changing economic structure of the world. The United States is no longer in the strong position that it once was in and to reflect this, some countries are calling for another president to have power.
Countries that participate in the World Bank system agreed to create a more open and transparent system for selecting the president in 2010. However, the United States and Europe have about half of the votes for the president of the World Bank. This means that regardless of how open the system is, the US and Europe have most of the power in this process of choosing the president.
Read more at CNN. [3]
