Organization of the World Bank
The single largest source of development finance in the world, the World Bank provided over $29 billion in loans and grants to 95 countries in 2004-2005. So what power does the President of the World Bank actually have? The President leads the World Bank Group, comprised of:
- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
- International Finance Corporation (IFC)
- International Development Association (IDA)
- International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
- Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
The President furthermore has power over staff appointments in several critical areas.
The World Bank's organizational structure chart further details the relationships between the President and World Bank staff.
The Office of the President's Management and Senior Staff List provides short bios for management and senior staff members.
Concerns about the process
BIC released the following statement on May 31
Recent revelations of secrecy, nepotism and patronage at the highest levels in the Bank have exposed the need for a fundamental overhaul of the Bank’s governance structure, beginning with greater openness in the presidential selection process and transparency in Board operations. In weeks past, numerous experts, Bank employees, public personalities, and newspaper editorial boards echoed the call for an open, democratic and merit-based process for choosing the next Bank president. But now, no one seems to be contesting the Bush administration’s continued control of the presidency. How the Bank’s member countries go about replacing Wolfowitz will be an important litmus test of their will to practice what they preach. If not now, then when?
Even the Boards of the Bank and Fund tacitly admitted the flaws in their leadership selection processes by convening special committees in 2001 to devise procedures for open, competitive processes based on merit, not national origin. But the US and Europeans have jealously guarded their naming privileges, ignoring all calls for reform.
Now is the time for governments to put forward alternate names for the post. The Board gave member countries a June 15th deadline to propose candidates. If other countries allow the US nomination to go ahead unchallenged, they will be complicit in the continued poor governance of the institution. The World Bank’s Board of Directors will make a final decision at the end of June. Thus far only a handful of countries, including Brazil, Australia and South Africa, have publicly called for a more open process, and none have yet proposed candidates.
While some groups have raised concerns about Zoellick's track record and management abilities, a discussion of Zoellick's qualifications should not take place until there is genuine competition for the job.
Zoellick has begun a ‘listening and learning’ tour of Africa, Europe and Latin America. During his first stops in Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa, Zoellick made it clear that as World Bank president he would continue to support the Bank's focus on Africa and the recent Governance and Anticorruption Strategy, as well as infrastructure development and regional integration on the continent.
A look at zoellick
Zoellick began his career in various government positions at the Department of Treasury. In 1992, Zoellick was appointed White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant to then President, George H. W. Bush. Zoellick is said to be one of the main authors of the Bush Administration’s policies regarding China which he describes in a speech to the Asia Society. In addition, Zoellick has played an active role in encouraging the Darfur peace process, visiting Sudan on four occasions as noted in this Times Online article. In 1998, Zoellick signed on to a letter to President Bill Clinton calling for “removing Saddam’s regime from power” which is posted on the Project for the New American Century website.
Following the 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, during which Zoellick worked alongside Condolezza Rice as a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush, Zoellick was named the U.S. Trade Representative in 2001. During his tenure as Trade Representative, Zoellick completed the negotiations to bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization; developed a strategy to launch new global trade negotiations at the WTO meeting in Doha and to press the negotiations forward in 2004; completed and enacted Free Trade Agreements with Singapore, Chile, Australia, and Morocco; completed FTAs with five nations of Central America and the Dominican Republic, as well as with Bahrain; worked with Congress to enact the Jordan FTA and the Vietnam Trade Agreement; launched Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the Southern African Customs Union, Panama, the Andean countries, and Thailand; and worked with Congress to pass the Trade Act of 2002, which included new Trade Promotion Authority, and to expand the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). He held this position until 2005 when he became the Deputy Secretary of State.
After less than a year, Zoellick switched to investment banking where he took up the position of managing director and chairman of Goldman Sachs’ International Advisors department. He is currently seen by many as the front runner.
The Wolfowitz scandal
Check out BIC's Wolfowitz Watch webpage for details on the rise and fall of former Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.