Following the usual international wrangling, the World Bank is a step closer to announcing its new president after Barack Obama threw a surprise by announcing Korean-born US academic Jim Yong Kim as the US candidate – traditionally a shoe-in for the role.

Kim, praised by Obama for his skill in tackling Aids and tuberculosis, is well known in development circles as a former head of the World Health Organization's HIV/Aids department and co-founder of charity Partners in Health. Nevertheless, reaction has been split towards the nomination of yet another US candidate.