US President Joe Biden Nominates Former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga To Lead World Bank

U.S. President Joe Biden has nominated former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank as its next president, a week after its current President David Malpass announced his intention to step down in June this year.

Biden Nominates India Born Ajay Banga

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Biden expects India-born Ajay Banga's ties to the private sector and emerging markets to jump-start the World Bank's overhaul to better address climate change.

Biden's nomination of 63-year-old Ajay Banga, who is now a US citizen, all but assures that he will assume a job that oversees billions of dollars of funding as it races to help developing countries address climate change.

World Bank To Select New President By May 2023

The World Bank said recently that it expects to select a new president by early May 2023 to replace David Malpass, who announced his resignation last week after months of controversy sparked by his initial refusal to say if he accepted the scientific consensus on climate change, and pressure from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for him to adopt "bolder" reforms.

"I think the speed of the nomination (of Ajay Banga), less than 48 hours after the World Bank board launched the process, reflects a desire to discourage any challengers and wrap it up quickly," said Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a former U.S. Treasury official, as per a Reuters report.

Also Read: NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran lyer Named Executive Director Of World Bank

Joe Biden's Statement on Banga

US President Biden mentioned Ajay Banga's decades of experience building global companies and public-private partnerships to fund responses to climate change and migration and said he had a proven track record working with global leaders.

"Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history," Biden said in a statement, as per the report, hailing the former Mastercard CEO's Indian roots, knowledge of the challenges facing developing countries, and ability to mobilise private capital to tackle big problems.

Ajay Banga's work in India and other emerging markets, his "obsession" with expanding financial inclusion, and his deep knowledge of new technologies could help bridge the divide between rich countries and emerging markets, said Luis Alberto Moreno, who worked closely with Banga while serving as president of the Inter-American Development Bank.

"He can really be a force for change," Moreno said, as per the report, noting that Banga enjoyed the trust of financial markets.

India was expected to support Banga's candidacy, according to Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the former top economic adviser to the Indian government who now serves as India's executive director at the International Monetary Fund. "It's an elegant solution."

Also Read: Binance Partners With Mastercard To Launch Crypto Card In Brazil

World Bank Historically Headed By The US

The World Bank has historically been headed by someone from the United States, its largest shareholder, while a European heads the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but developing countries and emerging markets have pushed to widen those choices.

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Banga's nomination is the first to be made public, but the bank will accept nominations from other member countries through March 29. Germany, another major shareholder, this week said the job should go to a woman since the bank has never been headed by a woman.

Reuters reported that a senior U.S. administration official said they did not know if other countries would nominate candidates for the post.

Asked about Washington's decision not to nominate a woman, the official said Banga had "a personal conviction and excellent track record promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the work that he does" and would bring that view to the bank.

More About Ajay Banga

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Pune-born Ajay Banga is currently the vice chair of General Atlantic, a U.S. private equity firm that administration officials said has invested over $800 million in EV charging solutions, solar power, and sustainable farming.

He retired in December 2021 after 12 years at the helm of Mastercard, where administration officials noted that he helped 500 million unbanked people join the digital economy, averted layoffs of the bank's 19,000 employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, and led work on climate, gender, and sustainable agriculture.

US' Vice President Kamala Harris said Ajay Banga brought great insight, energy, and persistence to his role as co-chair of the Partnership for Central America, which has mobilised $4.2 billion in public, private, and nonprofit funds to advance economic opportunity in northern Central America.

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