The US nominates its candidate… that was fast!

Ajay S. Banga, Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Mastercard, US’s nominee to the presidency of the World Bank. Credit: World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell

Ironies never cease. As the World Bank shareholders begin the process of reviewing the institution’s ability to effectively respond to the multiple crises impacting the globe and to address calls for urgent reform by discussing its ‘evolution roadmap’, it seems efforts to ensure the gentleman’s agreement, born in the age of empire, in which the US and European split leadership of the World Bank and IMF respectively are in rude health.

Following the unexpected resignation of its current President David Malpass and coinciding with the opening of the ‘process’ for the selection of his replacement, the US administration today announced the nomination of former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga as the US candidate – and thus, likely its next president. The announcement was preceded by a statement from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that the US would ‘quickly’ nominate its candidate, leaving one with the distinct impression that Malpass’s surprise resignation may not have surprised everyone.

Given the urgent need for reform in the global financial architecture to address the pressing challenges faced by the planet, women, the poor and marginalised populations, the nomination of someone so closely aligned with international finance and who has championed public-private partnerships as a solution to pressing environmental, social and human rights issues leaves little room for hope in the ‘evolution’ of the Bank. Mr. Banga’s background makes him rather unlikely to ensure the World Bank takes the opportunity of discussions about the roadmap to critically assess the effectiveness of the Bank’s private and finance-led approach to date and thus lead in a truly developmental direction.

The nomination of someone whose background indicates he would be committed to the failed ‘billions to trillions’ agenda and public-private partnerships, with their extremely poor track record, by the Bank’s principal shareholder and strong proponent of the gentleman’s agreement underscores the need for an end of the archaic and counter-productive ‘agreement’.

Indeed, the nomination makes clear the need for what civil society and low- and middle-income countries have long demanded, a merit-based, transparent selection process that necessarily incorporates exchanges with global civil society so that the World Bank president is selected in accordance with clear selection criteria, such as a commitment to human rights law and to a feminist, green and just transition that ensures economic transformation in middle- and low-income countries so that these can escape their long-standing path dependency.

We look forward to progressive candidates from the Global South with the qualifications and lived experience to enable them to lead the World Bank during these challenging times and to ensure it is truly ‘fit for purpose’.

BWP’s reaction to the resignation of World Bank’s President David Malpass

World Bank President David Malpass’s surprise resignation, which will take place by 30 June, comes as the World Bank shareholders are reviewing its draft ‘Evolution Roadmap’ aimed at expanding the Bank’s lending capacity and improving its ability to respond to global challenges, including climate change, fragility and growing global health threats. The process by which the World Bank selects Malpass’s replacement will speak volumes about the degree to which discussions about a World Bank ‘evolution’ go beyond superficial reforms underpinned by additional resources – and premised on increased expansion of the Bank’s preference for private sector-led development.  Discussions about equipping the institution to better respond to global challenges and support the provision of global public goods cannot be taken seriously without an end to the gentleman’s agreement that has ensured a US monopoly on the presidency of the World Bank, with all of the Bank’s presidents to date being men.  

As global civil society and social movements have long demanded, a new president should be appointed through a merit-based, transparent process with criteria publicly available and candidates being able to present their platform. The new process should at the very least mirror the process used to select the UN General Secretary, where candidates respond publicly to questions from civil society and social movements. 

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and as the World Bank works to align its activities with the Paris Agreement this year and the United Nations works towards the Summit of the Future in 2024, it is essential that any candidate for the World Bank’s presidency demonstrates a commitment to human rights. This is required to ensure that any ‘evolution’ of the World Bank enables it to fulfil its development mandate, respond to multiple crises and to support a truly green and just transition.   

World Bank President blog is back

As World Bank’s President David Malpass announces his unexpected resignation, effective by the end of the fiscal year, World Bank Prez blog is now back. We are opening this space for partners, academics and anyone interested to push once again for an end to the gentleman’s agreement, the unjust and undemocratic selection process that has characterised the leadership ‘race’ at the BWIs for decades.

We hope that the readership will enjoy a lively discussion about the characteristics required of the Bank’s new leader and ensuring the process is finally democratic and transparent.

We will continue to provide the most active forum for democratic debate about this deeply undemocratic institution, feed journalists tips for stories, inspire activists to ramp up their challenges, and embolden more officials to speak out.

If after decades you don’t succeed…

Dear readers and contributors,

Despite the professed commitment of the World Bank’s executive directors and our best efforts to ensure an open, transparent and merit-based process for the selection of the World Bank president, the multilateral institution is once again led by a US national. This follows the highly illegitimate process that saw the US candidate run unopposed, keeping the 75-year-old ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ firmly intact.

This was a “race” steeped in geopolitics with little incentive for Southern (or other) candidates to put their name forward to compete with the US nominee.

 World Bank Group President David Malpass and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde at Spring Meetings 2019
Photo: World Bank / Simone D. McCourtie

While we will say farewell for now, we hope to count on your continued support in holding Mr. Malpass and the World Bank generally accountable for their actions (or omissions).

As you also know, whatever the challenges and geopolitical realities, we strongly believe that the World Bank and IMF must change their leadership selection processes so that both institutions have leaders with the required skills and experience, selected through an open, fair and transparent process.

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