Port Moresby, July 1, 2024 - Starting today, Mr. Khwima Nthara becomes the World Bank Group Country Manager for Papua New Guinea (PNG), a position that will unify country-level leadership across the institution to better support PNG's public and private sector priorities. This newly created position provides a single point of contact for access to the full breadth of World Bank Group products and services and will enhance the institutions' ability to address global challenges, and drive development with speed, efficiency, and impact.
"This unified leadership approach tremendously improves the WBG's capacity to support PNG's development ambitions." said Mr. Nthara, the World Bank Group Country Manager for PNG. "It will enable us to improve our scope, scale, and speed and therefore make us a better partner in supporting the government, the private sector, and ultimately, the people of Papua New Guinea." He added.
In PNG, the World Bank Group's work aims to help end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in a sustainable way so that everyone, regardless of their gender, where they live, or their social and economic circumstances, can benefit equally, and to support PNG's development goals.
Mr. Nthara has been World Bank Country Manager for Papua New Guinea since 2023. He joined the World Bank Group in February 2005 as Country Economist for Malawi and has since held positions across the World Bank that include Country Manager for Liberia, where he was responsible for managing the Bank's portfolio of 27 projects with a total commitment of US$1.4 Billion. Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Nthara was Manager of Deloitte's Development Consulting Practice, Manager of the UK-funded Malawi Trade and Poverty Program, and Economics Lecturer at the University of Malawi. Mr. Nthara is a Malawian national and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, a Masters' Degree in Economics of Developing Countries from the same University, and a Bachelor of Social Science in Economics from the University of Malawi.
The introduction of joint country representation is an important step towards building a stronger World Bank Group. Papua New Guinea is one of 21 World Bank Group offices transitioning to a single World Bank Group Country Manager or Resident Representative for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
