Bob Zoellick is now officially in charge, and there are indications that he may put the fight against corruption where it belongs: among a long list of challenges, which vary in how badly they constrain development, rather than at the very top of the list. This is Wolfensohn on Zoellick:
“He [Zoellick] understands that you have to return the bank to its main thrust, which is development on behalf of the poor.
“As one of the elements, you want to combat corruption,” Mr. Wolfensohn added. “But you can’t make the bank into the attorney general of the world.”
Well said, and particularly meaningful as Wolfensohn is the person who brought the fight against corruption to the Bank.
Yes, it looks very promising but I am not sure if and how he will assert measures for improving the performance of state-owned and controlled infrastructure utilities in Africa--especially those reverted back to public management and ownership after failed or short-lived privatization attempts. I am afraid the Bank has been drifting for a while and is in need of a new focus on infrastructure SOEs.
Posted by: Nilgun | June 26, 2007 at 09:56 AM
This is part of Wolfie's "rehabilitation" effort.
Step 1: Say nice things about your successor, who actually knows what he is doing, to make it seem as if you had the right idea all along.
Posted by: ken Houghton | June 26, 2007 at 10:16 AM
I’m glad to hear this news. Corruption is basically a term of impairment integrity, virtue or moral principle, decadence, and inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means, or simply an agency or influence that corrupts. This is one of the most controversial problems in the world. Almost all the countries all over the world experience this kind of problem. This happens not only in the government but also in some financial businesses like the banks. I hope this will really help to solve and protect the people from Corruption.
http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/
Posted by: David Johnston | September 15, 2008 at 04:10 AM