A Korean-born American health expert Jim Yong Kim has been chosen as the World Bank's new president, maintaining Washington's grip on the job and leaving developing countries questioning the selection process. Kim, 52, won the job over Nigeria's widely respected finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Unlike previous World Bank elections, the decision was not unanimous. "The final nominees received support from different member countries, which reflected the high calibre of the candidates," the Bank said in announcing its board's decision.
The bank hailed the selection process as competitive, saying that the challenge posed by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, as well as by Colombian candidate Jose Antonio Ocampi, would benefit the institution in the long-run.
The three candidacies "enriched the discussion of the role of the president and of the World Bank Group's future direction" the World Bank said.
By convention, the US has always held the top job at the World Bank since it was founded in 1944.
The top job of its sister organisation, the International Monetary Fund, has also always gone to a European but there has been much pressure from emerging economies to open the processes of both organisations to competition.
Kim, president of Dartmouth College, will assume his new post on July 1.
