WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The World Bank will interview the three candidates to succeed President Robert Zoellick on April 9-11, one of the nominees, Jose Antonio Ocampo, told AFP Wednesday.

Ocampo, a Columbia University professor and former Colombian finance minister, said he would be interviewed by the development lender’s executive board on April 10.

The two other candidates, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, backed by African countries, and U.S. physician Jim Yong Kim, Washington’s pick, will be interviewed by the board on April 9 and April 11, respectively, Ocampo said.

The World Bank was not immediately available to confirm the schedule.

The 187-nation institution announced the three candidates Friday, setting in motion an unprecedented challenge from developing countries to the U.S. stronghold on the top job.

Under a tacit agreement, the U.S. always picks the head of the World Bank and Europe chooses a European to helm the International Monetary Fund.

But the nearly 70-year-old arrangement is strongly criticized by developing countries seeking greater representation at the institutions to reflect their rising contributions to the world economy.

The World Bank plans to select the new president by its April 20-22 Spring Meetings with the IMF.

Zoellick, a former U.S. iplomat, is set to step down at the end of his five-year term in June.