I’ve seen some of the EU governments’ confidential reports of the interviews EU governors had with the three Presidential candidates last week. Of course they all had differing views, but a fair summary would be:

Okonjo-Iweala: passionate performer, good knowledge of how the World Bank operates, but her pitch wasn’t so well set out or structured.

Ocampo: best prepared, clearest ideas about where he would take the Bank, most knowledgeable on economic issues. Quite academic in style.

Kim: Very committed, but limited knowledge outside health, and particularly not on finance and economics.

In an interesting article, Benn Steil, in the New York Times, traces the history of how a spy scandal led to the unwritten arrangement between the US and European powers to divide the leadership of the IMF and World Bank between them.

He concludes his historical account of how this came about saying “Instead of treating the World Bank presidency as a sacred American birthright, we should remember that it was never more than a consolation prize for an administration trying to dodge a spy scandal.”

If you missed the session co-hosted by the Washington Post and Center of Global Development with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, here is the video.

And here is the Washington Post’s take on the event.

In an Op-Ed article today in the Financial Times, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says ” My own approach to thinking about development has been influenced by my childhood experiences. I grew up in a village in Nigeria where I knew poverty first-hand. I lived through the Nigerian civil war in my formative years, where I observed how violence could set back years of economic development. My thinking has also been shaped by the past 30 years, working in almost every region of the world on thorny issues of development. It has certainly been informed by four years as finance and foreign minister in one of the most challenging but also exciting countries in the world – Nigeria.

She then moves on to lay out her vision for the World Bank, writing ” In the wake of the great recession, the uncertain times in which we live call for decisive action. The World Bank must respond quickly and effectively to three key challenges facing its client countries in ways that respect their priorities, their culture and their own processes.” She identifies them as: Creating jobs, supporting investments in human capital, and Institution building

She concludes her opinion article saying “Over the past 30 years working in developing countries I have listened to the concerns of politicians and policy makers, to the aspirations of entrepreneurs and youth activists, and to the dreams of women for inclusion and true equality of opportunity. All would like to see a Bank that is innovative and responsive; a true partner; a quick and nimble Bank that listens and supports them on their journey to a better life.

The work of the World Bank affects the welfare of millions of citizens and the prospects for a more peaceful world. I would be most honoured to lead this important institution with a sense of humility, urgency and hope at this time of change and challenge.”

A New York Times op-ed by Thomas J. Bollyky the senior fellow for global health, economics and development at the Council on Foreign Relations lays out a strong case for selecting Jim Kim as part of a strategy for the United States to get behind the momentum for change at the World Bank. Continue reading →