African finance ministers demanded a greater leadership role in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank at the organizations’ seasonal meetings in Washington, D.C. this weekend, according to news reports.
The representatives expressed their dissatisfaction with the dominance of prosperous countries in the decision-making processes of the world’s largest monetary institutions.
In a meeting with the front-running candidate for the role of managing director of the IMF Rodrigo Rato, African finance ministers proposed that the fund create a deputy directorial position, dealing specifically with Africa, according to the Algeria Press Service website.
Regional representatives to the international body would better address the needs of the countries suffering the most from poverty and “underdevelopment,” African attendees were quoted as saying.
Members of the G24 group of developing nations, which includes Morocco and Algeria, criticized the under-representation of Africans in the IMF and stated that the selection procedure for the position “falls far short of the standards of good governance, transparency and inclusiveness widely advocated by the IMF and World Bank in their relations with member countries,” news sources reported.
Rato is a former Spanish finance minister.
The World Bank is the primary United Nations agency mandated to fight poverty. The IMF, also founded by the U.N., is the international monitor of monetary exchange and the global economy. Both are governed by over 180 member-states.