Shortly after the World Bank President Ajay Banga announced in October that “by any measure, the World Bank is better today than it was yesterday,” news broke of a scandal. Allegations that the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation, has been complicit in covering up sexual abuse of children that occurred at schools in which it has invested raised serious questions about the Bank’s credibility. After weeks of silence, the IFC’s Managing Director finally issued a response – but it is so inadequate that shareholders’ confidence in the institution should be irrevocably shaken.
Following reports and complaints that children attending schools in Kenya run by Bridge International Academies were abused by their teachers, an October article revealed evidence that at least one of the investors, the IFC, knew of the abuse and endeavored to keep it secret.