(Releads with sources)
JOHANNESBURG, March 22 (Reuters) – South Africa has called a
news conference for Friday to announce an African candidate for
the World Bank presidency, widely expected to be Nigerian
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, sources familiar with the
discussions said on Thursday.
South Africa chairs one of the three African seats on the
25-member World Bank board, and Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy was
being proposed after consultations between South African
President Jacob Zuma and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan,
the sources said.
A statement from South Africa’s Treasury said the Finance
Ministers of Angola, Nigeria and South Africa would hold a news
conference in Pretoria on Friday, although it did not disclose
details of the agenda.
Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose
Antonio Ocampo are set to make the first concerted challenge to
the U.S. grip on the top job at the World Bank, sources told
Reuters this week.
Brazil said this week that both Okonjo-Iweala and Ocampo
would be “great” candidates to replace Robert Zoellick as head
of the Washington-based development institution, the latest sign
of emerging nations wanting more say in how it is run.
Washington has held the presidency since the bank’s founding
after World War Two, while a European has always led its sister
organization, the International Monetary Fund.
Despite the push by emerging nations, the United States has
the bank’s largest voting share and is expected to win the
support of most developed nations, making it likely that another
American will succeed Zoellick.
The United States has yet to identify a nominee.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing
by Ed Cropley)
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