Three-way World Bank race seen as deadline looms

The United States faces an unprecedented challenge to its grip on the World Bank presidency, with emerging economies poised to nominate at least one candidate on Friday to set up the first contested bid ...

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian finance minister who wants to run the World Bank, has warned that emerging economies will lose interest in multi-lateral institutions if they are not given more of a voice at the top of them.

By Simon Johnson, co-author of White House Burning A decision on choosing the next president of the World Bank is expected this week – perhaps as early as Monday.  The Obama administration nominated Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth College and a noted public health expert.  The reaction to this nomination from development economists and people experienced in the business of lending to poor countries has been overwhelmingly negative.

Nigeria's finance minister Friday joined the race for the top World Bank job, backed by Africa's leading economies in a push for greater influence at global financial bodies dominated by rich nations.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, flanked by counterparts from South Africa and Angola, unveiled her candidacy at a press conference in Pretoria, putting the weight of Africa's biggest economy and its two biggest oil producers behind her bid.

Colombia's Jose Antonio Ocampo withdrew from the World Bank presidential race on Friday to back Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the sole candidate from a developing nation bidding to wrest control of the global institution from the US.