Nigel Clarke elected IDB chairman
Published:Tuesday | March 29, 2022 | 12:10 AMHuntley Medley/Associate Business Editor
Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke has been elected chairman of the 48-member board of governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
He was elected on Monday morning at the annual meeting of the board of the IDB and IDB Investment Corporation (IDB Invest), the IDB’s private sector financing arm, at the bank’s headquarters in Washington, DC.
Clarke, the first Jamaican in decades elected to the post, takes over the chairmanship from José Manual Restrepo Abondano, minister of finance of Colombia.
Clarke’s election was proposed by Paraguay’s finance minister, Oscar Llamosas Díaz, who said the decision was in recognition of his Jamaican colleague’s demonstrated leadership in managing the economic affairs of Jamaica.
It was seconded by Canada
“Because of his great leadership and his ability to bolster public finances in his country, we are sure that his vision, commitment and leadership will also guide us in this process to renew and strengthen the IDB group as the needs of our countries and the region currently demand,” Paraguay’s IDB governor said.
Clarke, the only candidate nominated, was elected unanimously. His chairmanship will last for one year and will culminate with the 2023 annual meeting of the IDB board set to be held in Panama.
The new chairman will preside over plans by IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone for a major increase in IDB resources for private sector financing and to streamline the bank’s government lending programmes to make them more efficient and impactful. It was announced after the meeting that the capital increase plan for a better resourced IDB Invest, dubbed IDB Invest 2.0, which was presented to the March 28 board meeting, was endorsed and accepted in principle by a majority of IDB borrowing and non-borrowing shareholders with a detailed proposal and implementation plan to be submitted by September this year.
In a statement following his election, Clarke acknowledged the work of the outgoing chairman and the IDB executive team for steering the bank during the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic.
“The region has benefited greatly from the agility and capacity of the IDB in responding to the unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. As our hemisphere focuses on economic recovery and responds to new global shocks, we are confident in the bank’s ability to support member countries’ economic growth and development strategies,” Clarke said.
He expressed the commitment of the Government of Jamaica to remaining fully engaged with the institution, noting that the IDB was Jamaica’s largest creditor and has played an integral role in supporting the country’s growth and development objectives over the years.