The World Bank board picked on Monday a non-political replacement for its outgoing chief, American Robert Zoellick, in a selection process that critics claimed lacked the transparency demanded by member nations.

The 25-member board voted for Jim Yong Kim, an American with Korean roots, as the new World Bank chief, surprisingly overlooking the sterling banking credentials of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian nominee who once served as her country's finance minister.

Reuters has reported that the board decision on Kim was not unanimous, with reports emerging that developing economies like Brazil and South Africa threw their support behind the alternative candidate.

The bloc's vote, nonetheless, splintered at the last minute as the news agency reported that China and India were swayed to back Kim, joining other economic powerhouses such as Canada and Japan in affirming the American choice.

No figures were released by the World Bank to characterise the nature of the vote, with the global lender merely indicating in a statement that "the final nominees received support from different member countries."

Experts cited by The Associated Press doubted the selection process, the implementation of which was hidden from public view and the results signalled that Kim failed to win the nod of everyone in the World Bank board.

Kim's reputation is attached on his works as a physician and anthropologist who led global initiatives that attempted to eradicate tuberculosis in poverty-stricken corners of the world.

He also insisted on delivering cure for AIDS and HIV patients to marginalised sectors, specifically to Russian prisoners, who in large part were abandoned by their government, media reports said.

According to global anti-poverty group Oxfam, Kim's election as the new World Bank president should have been an excellent choice considering his reputation but "this sham process has damaged the institution and sullied Dr. Kim's appointment."

"Dr. Kim is an excellent choice for World Bank president and a true development hero ... but we'll never know if he was the best candidate for the job because there was no true and fair competition," Oxfam spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuart told AP on Monday.

Kim was named by U.S. President Barack Obama when the world was expecting that a more high-profile name will be pushed forward by Washington in light of the emerging economic challenges that the world must deal with.

One major name that was mentioned was that of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had earlier indicated that she would not be part of Mr Obama's second-term government, if re-elected, setting her up for a possible new international post.

In the end, Washington fulfilled its quest of keeping control of the World Bank, which has been the case since the lender's founding in 1944, by backing Kim, who presently heads the Dartmouth College.

In a statement, Kim gladly accepted his appointment while touring the Latin Americas and pledged that he would seek "a new alignment of the World Bank with a rapidly changing world."

He also praised the two other candidates - Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo - for representing the developing nations in the race.

Zoellick is set to officially end his term on July this year, setting the stage for Kim to commence his five-year term as the top honcho of the global lender that mostly extends financial assistance to countries wiggling their way out of poverty.