Nigerian World Bank candidate wants jobs for youths

The Nigerian candidate to head the World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said she welcomed competition for the job and added that her key vision is to make the body tackle youth unemployment.We welcome competition. We welcome the fact that the US is in the competition and any other candidate that is nominated, including the Columbian candidate. We welcome that, she told a news conference.Okonjo-Iweala, a respected former World Bank managing director, is up against Korean-American physician Jim Yong Kim, known for his work in campaigns against AIDS in Africa, and Jose Antonio Ocampo of Colombia.We just want a fair and honest competition and we are fully confident of our capability, said Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerias finance minister.The Washington-based World Bank, which has 187 member nations and focuses its activities on development loans, is expected to select its new president by consensus at its 2012 Spring meetings that begin on April 20.Okonjo-Iweala, who is the African continents candidate for the job, said her vision for the World Bank is an institution that is swifter and nimbler in tackling what she called the singular and most difficult problem of job creation for youths in developing and emerging market nations.If we do not tackle this problem of youth unemployment in many of our countries, we can look forward to many more springs. It may not be the Arab Spring. It may a different type of spring, she warned.She said that her candidacy was at the request of African leaders, including Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, the current ECOWAS chairman, and South Africas President Jacob Zuma.Okonjo-Iweala, who said she had travelled to several African capitals in the past few days to garner support, added that some emerging market nations were also very supportive of her nomination for the top job.So this is not just about Africa. Many people feel they need to see a voice and face from the developing world, someone who understands emerging market problems, said the 57-year-old Harvard-educated economist