World Bank Presidency: May the best (only) woman win

Let’s face it. It is not just because she is a Nigerian contender that we must support her. There is a sense In which, giving her the position, as someone has recently opined, re-echoes the enrichment of world imagination and the limitlessness of human possibilities—the way Obama’s Presidency triumph did for the Black world. If […]

Let’s face it. It is not just because she is a Nigerian contender that we must support her. There is a sense In which, giving her the position, as someone has recently opined, re-echoes the enrichment of world imagination and the limitlessness of human possibilities—the way Obama’s Presidency triumph did for the Black world. If Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala clinches that office, she will hit many firsts. She will be the non- US, first black and African citizen to head the World Bank. She will also come as the first woman ever to become the President of the World Bank (the past eleven Presidents have been men). It will be the first time ever that the position will be contested. It used to be the prerogative of American Presidents to nominate the President of the WB and the rest stake-holding nations to merely endorse or elect that nominee. The triumph of her nomination will thus break America’s age-old monopoly of the leadership of the World Bank.

Yet, it is not just for the reason of these justifiable history-making factors—formidable as they are—that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should get it. The credentials she parades for that position are simply as intimidating as they are unassailable. Her certificates as an economist recommend her-having studied in both Harvard and Massachusetts. She has the best requisite experience—having worked for decades in the World Bank, rising through the ranks to become the Bank’s Vice President as well as, until recently, and between 2007 and 2011, becoming the Managing Director of the Bank under the out-going President Robert Zoellicks.  She is a public economist who has served twice as the Minister of Finance of Nigeria, running her complex economy. So, on the level of merit, management and administrative cognate experience in the World Bank and proven competence, Okojo-Iweala deserves to be given the position. It is in view of her unsurpassed qualification in relation to other two contenders that Felix salmon of Reuters boldly and rhetorically pondered; ‘Does anybody at all that Kim is a better candidate than Ngozi?’ As if to answer that unasked question, The Economist magazine affirmed her candidature as a ‘triple threat’; she is experienced in government, she is a renowned finance economist and she is an outsider/insider. In short, she is ‘the best candidate available’ as a ‘formidable public economist’

Who are those backing her candidature? Is it merely a Nigerian affair (even if that were the case it is worth the struggle for whatever the WB is worth in the economic destiny of our country)? Happily, the sponsors are numerous and cut across interests, nationality, race and gender. Having been embraced across Africa as her bride and pride in the contest, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala was nominated by three African stake-holders in the World Bank—South Africa, Nigeria and Angola. The nomination was immediately endorsed by numerous African countries, culminating in the official endorsement by the African Union, the continent’s apex political collective. This was followed by the Nigerian Presidency’s action of drumming up support for her nomination within and outside the country, leading to the pronounced backing of her nomination by the National Assembly, regional bodies in Africa, news organizations across the continent and even western news organizations. Her candidature for World Bank’s prime post was also taken as a women rights affair, being the first woman ever to gun for the position. Notable among the women rights groups backing her is the Grace Rachel Trust. Various human rights groups have also proclaimed their support for her candidature.

The general call is on America to line up on the right side of history, as a nation which has always, when most convenient, proclaimed its advocacy for meritocracy above all other considerations. Obviously, President Obama may be in some unannounced dilemma, being a personal exemplar of the superiority of popular will over all other considerations. It is clear that he has a right to toe the line of unwritten, practice and tradition in which America keeps the control of the leadership of the World Bank while European share-holders reserve for themselves the control of the leadership of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). No American President would prefer to set the example of failing to see through his nomination for the World Bank’s top job. However, his winning the Presidency of the United States should demonstrate to him the dynamics of change in human affairs and institutions. He should not find it difficult to understand why the world would like to do things differently from assumed norms. The pressure is on the United States to shun cronyism in this matter and fill this posh position with the best candidate on the ground. Even the out-going President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, cannot contemplate such changes, especially as he is unable to see a World Bank President that is not an American.  His position is that the Bank will atrophy without America’s support. This is in spite of the fact that Okonjo-Iweala has worked with him for years and he has given previous testimonies about her sterling qualities and competence.

What discernible voices across the globe are saying is that, at this stage of its existence, and given the avalanche of criticism inveighed against the World Bank, (its managerial failures and crass inefficiency) it is time to let the most qualified, most experienced and most suitable contestant run it and bring a new lease of life to the Bank as a development –driven institution. The candidate of the United States’ President is certainly not that person. Jim Yong Kim has no known experience in Finance nor in development economics. He is a physician and an anthropologist who has shown tremendous relevance in eradicating HIV/AIDS. He was a co-founder of global health organization granting aid to the developing world. He is an admirable person but the United States should utilize his competence and inspired enthusiasm elsewhere, not at the World Bank which is currently in dire need of surgical recovery in the hands of a competent, knowledgeable and experienced finance expert, administrator and an unquestionable veteran of the institution. That person, who knows the inner workings of the World Bank and can turn it around, is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. It is time to espouse the clarion call of The Economist: that the best woman—indeed the only woman- should win the Presidency of the World Bank.