IFC Plans Record India Lending as Rising Rates Lure Power, Oil Companies

(Bloomberg) -- The World Bank arm that invests in
companies said funding for India, its biggest recipient, will
surpass last fiscal year's record $1 billion as interest rates
at a five-year high deter companies from borrowing at home.

The International Finance Corp. will commit $500 million of
the funds in the year ended June 30 to infrastructure, focusing
on oil, transportation, power and gas projects, said Anita
George, chief investment officer of the World Bank division that
lends to companies in emerging markets.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

UPDATE 1-S.Korea pension picks foreigners to manage $2 bln

(Reuters) - The state-run pension agency, which has more than $200
billion under its management, said in a statement it plans to
entrust $1 billion with the World Bank, $500 million with a
Morgan Stanley unit and $450 million with a Credit Suisse
unit.




It said the plans were part of its strategic alliance formed
with Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Credit Suisse Asset
Management.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

UPDATE 1-Healing conflict at World Bank not easy -Zoellick

(Reuters) - BRASILIA, June 18 - Healing the wounds and
conflicts at the World Bank will be a difficult task in the
aftermath of an ethics scandal, Robert Zoellick, the bank's
likely next president, said on Monday.




"My role as a potential CEO is to try to heal this
institution, overcome some of the conflicts, the bruises, the
wounding, the frustrations," Zoellick told a news conference in
the Brazilian capital at the end of a two-week tour through
Africa, Europe and Latin America.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

IFC at $1 bln mark in funding to Africa, plans more

(Reuters) - The International Financial Corp plans to lift spending in Africa to take advantage of strong commodity prices and a fall in the number of conflicts racking the continent, a senior official said on Thursday.

The IFC, the World Bank's private sector lender, has spent $1 billion in Africa since it was set up in 1956, and the lion's share of that funding has taken place in the last four years, said Thierry Tanoh, IFC Director for Sub-Saharan Africa.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Africa policymaking improving - World Bank official

(Reuters) - Africa is becoming a more attractive investment destination as governments pursue economic and political reforms that are firing up their economies, business executives and bankers say.

"What we are seeing is that economies that are not dependent on oil or minerals are growing, which is an indication that African growth is not being determined alone by minerals, commodities and such like," said Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, vice-president of the World Bank in Africa.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Ethiopia secures $220 mln World Bank loan for roads

(Reuters) - The World Bank has given Ethiopia a $220 million loan to rehabilitate and upgrade 579 km (359.8 miles) of rural roads, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development said on Monday.

The fund will be used to upgrade and repair roads in the country's agricultural belt including its coffee growing areas.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Change needed in how World Bank head chosen - survey

(Reuters) - About 85 percent of participants of an online survey disagree or strongly disagree with the process of selecting the head of the World Bank, in which the United States picks a single American candidate.

Initial findings of the survey by the Washington-based Center for Global Development (CGD) think tank also found that most agree or strongly agree that the choice of a candidate should be based on qualifications, rather than nationality.


Read more at Reuters Africa

US has tough task to heal rift over Wolfowitz

(Reuters) - A day after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as World Bank president under an ethics cloud, the United States faced the tough task of healing rifts with Europeans and satisfying calls that his successor be picked on merit, not just nationality.

Wolfowitz's resignation on Thursday followed pressure by European opponents who said his handling of a high-paying promotion for his companion damaged the institution's credibility. Bank staff complained the crisis had undermined their mission of fighting poverty in developing countries.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-Wolfowitz row seen hurting Africa anti-graft drive

(Reuters) - DAKAR, May 18 - The World Bank has roared against
corruption in Africa for years but its credibility has been
badly mauled by the favouritism scandal that sent the bank's
U.S. chief Paul Wolfowitz limping off into retirement.




Governments in Africa, whose reputation for corruption goes
hand in hand with its status as the world's poorest continent,
had grown used to being lectured by World Bank delegations, some
headed by "Wolfie" himself, about good governance and
transparency.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News