Ibrahim F.I. Shihata; General Counsel of World Bank
Ibrahim F.I. Shihata, 64, general counsel of the World Bank from 1983 to 1998, died May 28 in Washington.
An expert on international development, Shihata died May 28 at Georgetown University Hospital of complications from liver disease.
Born in Cairo, Shihata earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Cairo University and went on to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in international law from Harvard University.
He taught at Cairo University, was an advisor for the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and directed the OPEC Fund for International Development before joining the World Bank.
At the World Bank, he was the architect of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. Founded in 1985, the fund helped promote Third World investment and provide foreign investors with insurance against noncommercial risks such as war and famine.
Shihata also helped establish the Global Environment Facility, a U.N.-affiliated agency that works to help promote environmentally friendly development.
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