World Bank
Statement at the World Bank Spring meetings April 2006: World Bank Finances Corporate Corruption.
As the water crisis grows, there is increased pressure on World Bank staff to push larger loans faster in order to meet the funding targets. This pressure has lead to a significant inequity on how World Bank funds are allocated. For example, while all of sub-Saharan Africa received US$289 million (US$200 million is in a single loan to Nigeria) in March to June 2005, China alone received US$510 million. And India and Indonesia are also both contenders for first place. Under preparation are loans totaling US$560 million for China, US$322 million for Indonesia and a whopping US$1.344 billion towards water projects in India. Sub-Saharan Africa is arguably the continent in most need of water investment, but the World Bank is increasingly focusing on middle-income countries and ignoring the needs of the poorest countries.
| Who Controls the World Bank? |
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Major decisions at the World Bank are made by the 24 executive directors. The five largest shareholding countries appoint their Executive Directors. These are the United States, Japan, Germany, France and UK. Other countries are grouped together, usually in regional groupings, and elect one country to represent them. Voting power of the executive directors is determined by the capital subscription of the countries they represent with the larger shareholders having the greatest percentage of the votes. The five largest shareholding countries have the following percentage of the vote: United States………………………………………………16.41% Japan…………………………………………………………7.87% Germany……………………………………………………4.49% France…………………………………………………………4.31% United Kingdom……………………………………………4.31% |
Learn More
- Click here to learn more about who really controls the World Bank.
- Read the report: Will the World Bank Back Down?
Reports
- Going Thirsty — Going Thirsty profiles Latin American water projec ...
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