It catches fire the race for the presidency of the World Bank. The United States has held the presidency since the institution was founded after the Second World War, while traditionally a European has been the head of the International Monetary Fund, its sister institution.
The outgoing president is Robert Zoellick, who will resign in June, but this time it seems that for the first time there could be room for a representative of emerging countries.
Brazil, for example, would like to nominate former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, but it cannot do so without the support of Colombia, whose Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry yesterday announced that his country is aiming to run for the presidency of the ILO, the International Labor Organization.
But above all, in a rare example of unity between countries on the African continent, Angola, Nigeria and South Africa back the appointment of Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
For their part, the United States has made it known, and confirmation from President Barack Obama will also arrive shortly, that the candidate will be Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth college. As for Russia, one of the BRICS countries, it may not hinder the US candidacy in order to obtain a more prominent role in the top management of international financial institutions.
