US President Joe Biden Apppoints former Mastercard Inc (MA.N) CEO and Indian Businessman Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank.
President Biden’s nomination comes on Thursday of Banga, 63 old Indian Businessman, now a US citizen, all but assures he will assume a job that oversees billions of dollars of funding, as it races to help developing countries address climate change.
The World Bank (WB) on Wednesday said it expects to select a new president by early May 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 by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for him to adopt “bolder” reforms.
President Biden noted 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, hailing the business executive’s Indian roots and knowledge of the challenges facing developing countries and ability to mobilize private capital to tackle big problems.
Profile of Ajay Banga
Ajay Banga is an Indian-American business executive who is known for his leadership roles in various prominent companies. He was born on 17th April 1960, in Khadki, Pune, India.
Banga is best known as the former CEO and current Executive Chairman of Mastercard, a multinational financial services corporation. He joined Mastercard in 2009 as its President and CEO and served in that role until 2021 when he transitioned to his current position. During his tenure as CEO, Banga was instrumental in driving the company’s transformation into a technology-focused payments company.
Prior to joining Mastercard, Banga worked at Citigroup for 13 years, where he held various senior leadership positions, including CEO of Citigroup Asia Pacific. Before that, he worked at Nestle for 13 years in a variety of sales and marketing roles.
Banga has been recognized for his contributions to business and society with numerous awards, including the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honors. He is also a member of several boards, including the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum and the International Chamber of Commerce, and he serves on the board of trustees of the United States Council for International Business.
