WB selects Ajay Banga as its 14th President

The World Bank had selected Ajay Banga as President of the World Bank for a five-year term beginning June 2, 2023.

The executive directors of WB followed the selection process agreed by shareholders in 2011. The process included an open, merit-based, and transparent nomination where any national of the bank’s membership could be proposed by any executive director or governor through an executive director. This was then followed by thorough due diligence and a comprehensive interview of Banga by the executive directors.

The president of the World Bank Group is also the chair of the board of the executive directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The president is also ex officio chair of the Board of Directors of the International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and of the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Banga, nominated by US President Joe Biden for the post, is the first-ever Indian American to head the bank.

He will replace David Malpass, who had sparked outcry by appearing to question the role of humans in climate change.

Now a US citizen, Banga started his career in his native India, where his father was an officer in the army. President Joe Biden called him “a transformative leader” who had the experience to run the World Bank.

Ajay Banga, whose full name is Ajaypal Singh Banga was born on November 10, 1959, in Pune, India.

Ajay Banga most recently served as Vice Chairman at General Atlantic. Previously, he was President and CEO of Mastercard, a global organization with nearly 24,000 employees.  Under his leadership, MasterCard launched the Center for Inclusive Growth, which advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. He was Honorary Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, serving as Chairman from 2020-2022. He became an advisor to General Atlantic’s climate-focused fund, BeyondNetZero, at its inception in 2021. Banga served as Co-Chair of the Partnership for Central America, a coalition of private organizations that works to advance economic opportunity across underserved populations in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. He was previously on the Boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods, and Dow Inc.

Ajay Banga is a co-founder of The Cyber Readiness Institute and was Vice chair of the Economic Club of New York. He was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal in 2012, the Padma Shri Award by the President of India in 2016, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Business Council for International Understanding’s Global Leadership Award in 2019, and the Distinguished Friends of Singapore Public Service Star in 2021.