Africa provides both protagonist and backdrop in the drama surrounding the 14 May arrest for sexual assault of Dominique Strauss Kahn, former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Strauss Kahn’s accuser, a maid at the Sofitel hotel in New York, is now under police protection. She hails from Guinea’s Labe region where journalists are pursuing her family in search of clues to her character.

At the IMF, Strauss Kahn has presided over important changes during the past four years, increasing the representation of Africa and other developing states and acting to forestall the worst effects of the 2008 global economic crisis. Now his exit raises the chance of an African successor.

There are three undeclared African candidates for the IMF post: South Africa’s Trevor Manuel, Egypt’s Mohamed El-Erian and Zambian-born Stanley Fischer, who also has American nationality. Of the three, Manuel’s astute management of his country’s finances after the economic and social devastation of apartheid marks him out as a candidate with exceptional technical and political skills. There are signs of growing support for Manuel and South Africa, the newest member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) emerging economies.

As Europe coalesces around France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as its preferred candidate, those who want to break the tradition of the West monopolising the top IMF/World Bank jobs will have to find their own nominee – and Manuel is eminently qualified.