Jacob Foko

Every year, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund host their annual meeting, a gathering of finance ministers, bankers, government officials, private sector representatives and journalists from around the world. The meeting, held in Washington D.C, is a forum for discussion of global economic issues and for identifying solutions to a variety of problems affecting the economy and the welfare of citizens.
This year, the meeting opened just days after President Barack Obama’s candidate for the post of World Bank president — Yong Kim — was elected, despite bold endorsements by newspapers such as the Financial Times and The Economist for Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Ikonjo Iweala. It is unclear what, if any effect, the election of yet another American — the fourteenth since the World Bank was founded in 1944- will have.