For the first time, the United States nominee for the presidency of the World Bank a seat historically held by an American faces international competition. Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo post real challenges to American nominee and College President Jim Yong Kim, giving the World Bank a chance to focus on electing the best candidate, rather than automatically selecting the American nominee, according to experts interviewed by The Dartmouth.
Okonjo-Iweala has served as Nigerian foreign minister, managing director of the World Bank and vice president of the World Bank Group, according to Colin Bradford, senior fellow in the global economy and development division of the Brookings Institution and former chief economist at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
"Nigeria is not consistently held up as an example of fiscal probity," government professor John Carey said. "On the other hand, [Okonjo-Iweala] is regarded as being relatively transparent and not subject to the kinds of corrosive allegations that you see a lot in Nigerian politics. She is well respected and is a strong candidate."
Ocampo, currently a professor of professional practice in international and public affairs at Columbia University, is the former agricultural minister of Colombia, the former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs and the former chairman of the Central Bank of Colombia, according to Columbia's website.
"Ocampo has been a prolific thought leader in economics and is well known in the literature, where Okonjo-Iweala isn't," Bradford, said. "Ocampo has also been part of the agricultural administration, which means that you have a candidate in the development field who has feelings for the rural dimension of policy, in addition to big corporate farms, and therefore has a feel for peasants that no other candidate has."
Despite Ocampo's additional experience in academia, poverty and agriculture, Okonjo-Iweala has similarly diverse experiences that mark her as a strong candidate for the presidency, according to Bradford.
"Okonjo-Iweala's advantage would be not only financial and economic, but that she's also quite adroit at understanding the relationship between public policy and the private sector, both in business in developing countries and foreign investment from advanced to developing countries," Bradford said.
As former finance ministers, Ocampo and Okonjo-Iweala have more traditional credentials for the position than Kim does, according to Carey. Traditionally, World Bank presidents have had backgrounds in either finance, business or economics. Still, the Obama administration's decision to nominate Kim was unconventional and "savvy," according to Carey.
Some experts said that a more typical finance background gives Kim's two competitors an edge in the selection process.
"A lot of my peers are keen that one or the other of the two candidates will win," Bradford said. "They firmly believe that you need the financial experience that these candidates have for the World Bank."
Still, Kim's own experience, though less traditional, does qualify him for the position, according to Bradford.
"All three candidates are obviously accomplished, experienced, proven leaders, and each represents something a little different, all of which is needed by the World Bank," Bradford said.
With three strong candidates, experts see this as the first time that the appointment of the World Bank president will present a challenge to the American nominee.
"There's never been any challenge in the past," Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research Mark Weisbrot said. "The U.S. has simply chosen the president, so this is the first time that there's any contest."
The existence of two strong non-American contenders for the World Bank presidency represents a change in the selection process that will force decision-makers to truly debate when selecting the best candidate, according to Bradford.
"What we have now is a new process which forces officials to think about the future of the World Bank and see the differences between the three candidates and to think about the process of selection," Bradford said.
At the same time, the competition is not strong enough to legitimately challenge Kim as the nominee for the presidency, according to Carey.
"It's interesting to see developing countries that are rising in economic power putting forward viable candidates," Carey said. "Their position is that it should be a competitive election. My guess is that it won't be this time, but you don't know how long this status will remain."
For a more competitive election to develop, other countries that decide to put forth candidates will have to better plan and organize for their nominees, Weisbrot said.
"Eventually, the choice won't come from the U.S., but the developing countries will have to get their act together a lot sooner," Weisbrot said.
In all likelihood, Kim will still be appointed president, according to Bradford.
"Europe owes us because the U.S. supported former French Minister Christine Lagarde as director of the [International Monetary Fund] last year," Bradford said. "It's not hard to see a support base of 51 percent forming for Kim. I'd say Dr. Kim will win, but it will be a contested race."
The Economist has endorsed Okonjo-Iweala as the best candidate for the presidency, saying that her breadth of experience in government, economics, finance and development are qualifications that Ocampo and Kim do not share. Okonjo-Iweala has also been endorsed by The Financial Times, The African Union, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-CIO of Pacific Investment Management Company, a global investment management firm and one of the world's largest bond investors.
Ocampo has been endorsed by The Guardian, who referred to him as the only candidate with the necessary experience to lead the World Bank in the 21st century.
