Who is Ajay Banga, the US candidate to head the World Bank?

First modification: 02/24/2023 – 02:56

US President Joe Biden proposed Ajay Banga, former CEO of mastercardto direct the World Bank, betting that the links of the Executive with the private sector and emerging markets promote the review of the institution, 77 years old, to move towards green financing.

Indian-born Banga, 63, is now a US citizen, who will virtually take over with the nomination overseeing billions of dollars of funding in his race to help developing countries tackle climate change.

The World Bank has said it expects to elect a new president in early May to replace David Malpass, who resigned last week after months of controversy sparked by his initial refusal to say whether he accepted the scientific consensus on climate change, and pressure from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to adopt “bolder” reforms.

“I think the speed of the appointment, less than 48 hours after the World Bank Board began the process, reflects a desire to deter potential applicants and finish quickly,” said Scott Morris, a researcher at the Center for Global Development and former US Treasury official.

Biden highlighted Banga’s decades of experience building global companies and public-private partnerships to finance responses to climate change and migration, saying he had a long history of working with world leaders.

“Ajay is uniquely prepared to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Biden said in a statement, highlighting the business executive’s Indian roots, his knowledge of the challenges of developing countries and his ability to mobilize private capital to tackle big problems.

Banga is the son of a general in the Indian Army, and says that his education, in which he had to move to different cities in India, led him to have “ease of adaptation.” After graduating from Delhi University and Ahmedabad Institute of Management, this former Mastercard chief executive began his career at Nestlé India, where he spent 13 years.

In India, he helped launch Pepsico fast food franchises and led the Citigroup Asia Pacific. The venture capital company where he currently works as vice president, General Atlantic, says of him that he has served as an adviser to governments, companies and organizations “of all kinds”, as well as being a veteran of Wall Street.

India was expected to support Banga’s candidacy, according to Krishnamurthy Subramanian, a former senior economic adviser to the Indian government who is now chief executive officer for India at the International Monetary Fund. “It’s an elegant solution,” he concluded.

The World Bank was established in 1944, together with its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, within the framework of the Bretton Woods agreements. Tradition dictates that it is the US that proposes the president of the World Bank, while Europe chooses the Fund’s president.

With Reuters and EFE