Members of the World Bank board of governors are putting pressure on President Jim Kim to boost the diversity of senior staff as part of the institution’s ambitious and controversial reform process launched last year.
A newspaper reporter learnt how during the bank’s recent spring meetings, Kim abruptly left a meeting with African finance ministers who sit on the board of governors after being asked why not a single African is among the new senior directors for global practices and cross-cutting areas appointed April 3.
In an (undated) letter to the ministers obtained by the reporter, the World Bank chief thanks them for attending and apologized for “having had to leave so quickly,” explaining that he “had [another] meeting scheduled immediately after our session.”
The letter then goes on to directly address the issue of diversity among management at the institution.
Source: African Sun Times