United States President Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Indian-American businessman Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank.
Banga, 63 is currently serving as the vice chairman at equity firm General Atlantic. He was previously the chief executive of credit card giant Mastercard. He has also worked at Swiss food giant Nestle and finance giant Citigroup.
His nomination comes a day after the Washington-based global lender announced that it expects to select a new president by early May to replace David Malpass, who announced his resignation last week.
The US is the World Bank’s largest shareholder and has traditionally been allowed to select its preferred candidate to lead the institution.
On Thursday, Biden said the India-born executive has vast experience in successfully leading organisations in developing countries and forging public-private partnerships to address financial inclusion and climate change.
“Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Biden said. “He has spent more than three decades building and managing successful, global companies that create jobs and bring investment to developing economies, and guiding organisations through periods of fundamental change.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said that she has closely worked with Banga on developing a model of public-private partnership to address the root causes of migration in Northern Central America.
“Ajay brought great insight, energy, and persistence to the challenges of promoting economic development and tackling the root causes of migration,” Harris said.
She added: “Banga will be a transformative World Bank President as the institution works to deliver on its core development goals and address pressing global challenges, including climate change.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!