Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a global law firm, has been tapped by the World Bank to probe accusations that the International Finance Corporation interfered with an investigation into alleged child sexual abuse at a chain of schools it funded in Kenya.
The World Bank’s board of executive directors announced last week that the law firm will lead an independent review to decide whether IFC, the bank’s private sector arm, obstructed the investigation by its own watchdog into reports of abuse at schools run by Bridge International Academies, a for-profit education provider in Africa and India.
IFC invested $13.5 million in NewGlobe Schools, which was Bridge’s parent company between 2013 and 2016, before divesting in 2022.