Though the Colombian José Antonio Ocampo withdrew his candidacy in the final stages, the Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala remained in the race.
Among countries with recently increased voting power are South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, Singapore, Greece, Brazil, India and Spain.
[9] At the time of the election the 25 members of the executive board and their constituents were: St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines The three official candidates were[38] Korean-American Jim Yong Kim, the president of Dartmouth College; Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Finance Minister of Nigeria; and Colombian Jose Antonio Ocampo, the director at the Economic and Political Development Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
The World Bank is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce poverty and raise standards of living around the globe, and Kim’s personal experience and years of service make him an ideal candidate for this job.
"[5] His decision was read as a surprise, as Kim had a lower profile than the other potential candidates that had been discussed in advance, but was interpreted by the Associated Press as an attempt by Obama to fend off challenges by developing countries eager to end the US control of the position.
"[8][44] However, former World Bank economist and New York University professor William Easterly, worried about Kim's lack of experience in economics, said, "You have to have the mind-set to allocate scarce funds, rather than approaching the problem as if we have unlimited resources for suffering people.
Her bid was supported by South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan who said that "she has eminent academic qualifications and would be, I think, a candidate of choice not only on the African continent but well beyond as well."
[1] Russia concurred in calling for a bigger role for emerging market countries in global financial institutions, while India said it would consult with the BRICS states.
"[50] Rogerio Studart, the Brazilian member of the executive board, said that developing countries would like to see a broad discussion about the World Bank's future in choosing a president.
Former executive board member Domenico Lombardi said that Ocampo's and Okonjo-Iweala's credentials were a signal of a "big shift" in that it is reflective of a "game change" making this the first "truly contested election.
"[1] A former IMF official[5] at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Arvind Subramanian, said Kim's nomination was "quite unusual" and doubted his credentials.
"[51] Ocampo withdrew his candidacy on 13 April, citing a lack of support from his native Colombia[52] and arguing that the process was political as opposed to merit-based.
[51] After Ocampo's withdrawal, and with support from Russia, Japan and many European countries, along with that of the United States, Canada and South Korea, Kim was announced as the winner on 16 April.
It was here that I saw how communities struggle to prosper because of a lack of infrastructure and basic services...And it was here that I learned that we can triumph over adversity by empowering the poor and focusing on results."
"[55] Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said of Kim that he would offer a new perspective as "his deep development background coupled with his dedication to forging consensus will help breathe new life into the World Bank's efforts to secure fast economic growth that is widely shared.
To move away from violent geopolitics, acknowledging changes in the status of governments by reliance on soft power criteria leadership of international institutions has never been more useful.
It quoted the Secretary-General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Sindiso Ngwenya criticising the fact that the World Bank's selection process had not changed to "reflect evolving global realities.