Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's hopes of becoming World Bank president end as David Malpass gets appointed

FORMER finance minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's hope of becoming the World Bank president have once again been dashed after American David Malpass was named as the new head of the institution.

In January, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim suddenly resigned, some two-and-a-half years before his tenure was due to end and the search for a replacement began. Having been an original candidate when Mr Kim was first appointed in 2012, Dr Okonjo-Iweala was touted as a natural replacement but yesterday, World Bank executives directors named Mr Malpass as their new head.

He will now begin a five-year tenure on Tuesday, April 9. According to the World Bank his appointment followed a transparent nomination process where any national of the bank’s membership could be proposed by any executive director or governor.

A World Bank spokesman said: “The board looks forward to working with Malpass on the implementation of the Forward Look and the Capital Package Agreement as articulated in the Sustainable Financing for Sustainable Development Paper."

Among other things, the World Bank president is chair of the boards of directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association. He is also the ex-officio chair of the boards of directors of the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Mr Malpass previously served as the US under-secretary of the treasury for international affairs during which he represented Washington at international settings, including the G-7 and G-20 deputy finance ministerial and World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings. He also played a role in several major World Bank Group reforms and initiatives.

He was also instrumental in advancing the Debt Transparency Initiative, adopted by the World Bank and IMF to increase public disclosure of debt and thereby reducing the frequency and severity of debt crises. Prior to becoming under-secretary, Mr Malpass was an international economist and founder of a macroeconomics research firm based in New York City.

Earlier in his career, Mr Malpass served as the US deputy assistant secretary of the treasury for developing nations and deputy assistant secretary of state for Latin American economic affairs. In these roles, he focused on an array of economic, budget and foreign policy issues, such as the US involvement in multilateral institutions, including the World Bank.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Colorado College and his MBA from the University of Denver. Mr Malpass undertook advanced graduate work in international economics at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.