Fresh signs have emerged that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy for the position of president of the World Bank will not enjoy the unanimous support of African governments.
Fresh signs have emerged that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy for the position of president of the World Bank will not enjoy the unanimous support of African governments.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
Both Ghana and Uganda have indicated their opposition to Mrs. Iweala's ambition to head the bank. In a statement issued on March 20, Kwabena Duffuor, Ghana's Finance and Economic Planning minister, disclosed that his country was backing Jeffrey Sachs for the World Bank post.
Even though Mr. Sachs has recently withdrawn from the race, our indications are that Ghana intends to vote for President Barack Obama's choice for the presidency of the World Bank.
Last week, Mr. Obama announced his nomination of South Korean-born Jim Yong Kim, the President of Darthmouth College as the US candidate for the World Bank post.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });
In a related development, the Uganda president, Yoweri Museveni had also announced its nomination of Mr. Sachs. With Mr. Sachs withdrawal a diplomatic source told Saharareporters that president Museveni, a lackey of the US, was most likely to endorse Mr. Obama's choice.
Mrs. Okonja-Iweala's diminishing support within Africa is seen as casualty of President Goodluck Jonathan's weak and directionless leadership. Since emerging a year ago as president, Mr. Jonathan's influence has been significantly diminished among of African leaders.
In late January, Ghana mobilized several African countries to fiercely oppose Mr. Jonathan's bid for the presidency of the African Union. That position cleared the way for President Yayi Bponi of Benin republic to easily emerge as the new leader of the AU.
Last week nomination of Mr. Kim sounded a death-knell on the candidacy of Mrs. Iweala as the US government controls a vast majority of the 25-member board of the World Bank.
Nigeria, Angola and South Africa, the main sponsors of Mrs. Iweala's candidacy, have only a single vote on the board of the World.
An entry on the information website Wikipedia dramatizes the huge odds against Mrs. Iweala, the entry states: "In accordance with contributions to the organization states have a form of proportional representation in voting. As of a rule change in 2010, voting share now stands at United States of America (15.85%), Japan (6.84 (%)), China (4.42%), Germany (4.00%), United Kingdom (3.75%), France (3.75%), India (2.91%), Russia (2.77%), Saudi Arabia (2.77%) and Italy (2.64%). Other countries with increased voting power are: South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Singapore, Greece, Brazil, India and Spain"
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });