The World Bank chose Korean-American physician Jim Yong Kim as its next chief yesterday in a decision that surprised few despite the first-ever challenge to the US lock on the Bank’s presidency.

New chief is a health expert and educator

The Bank’s directors chose Dr Kim, a 52-year-old US health expert and educator, over Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who had argued that the huge development lender needs reorientation under someone from the developing world.

Dr Kim, currently president of the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, will succeed outgoing president Robert Zoellick, a former US diplomat who is departing in June at the end of his five-year term.

The Bank’s directors expressed “deep appreciation” to Dr Kim, Mr Okonjo-Iweala and a third candidate, Colombian economist José Antonio Ocampo, who pulled out of the race on Friday.

“Their candidacies enriched the discussion of the role of the president and of the World Bank Group’s future direction,” the Bank said in a statement.

“The final nominees received support from different member countries, which reflected the high calibre of the candidates.”

The US nomination of Dr Kim, breaking the pattern of the 11 American bankers and diplomats who have come before him, had surprised many, as he was little known outside global health circles and has no background in development economics.

But the South Korea-born, US-raised physician and anthropologist, with degrees from Harvard University, has a strong record in developing programmes to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in poor countries.