US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the nomination of former Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga as a candidate to lead the World Bank, after the current head of the development lender announced plans to step down early.
The World Bank has just begun accepting candidate nominations in a process that will run until March 29, the bank said, adding that female contenders will be “strongly” encouraged.
The President of the Washington-based Bank is usually an American, while the head of the International Monetary Fund is usually a European.
Banga, who is Indian-American, was previously chief executive at Mastercard, and has also served on the boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc. He is currently vice chairman at private equity firm General Atlantic.
The 63-year-old Sikh was born and raised in India, traveled regularly as a child due to his father’s military career, and began his career there before moving to the United States.
Banga has “critical experience mobilizing public-private resources to address the most pressing challenges of our time, including climate change,” Biden said in a statement.
Last week, current World Bank President David Malpass said he would resign nearly a year early, ending a tenure marred by questions over his climate stance.
Malpass was appointed to the post in 2019 when Donald Trump became president, and will therefore end his term in 2024.
Banga’s nomination comes amid a push for development lenders to fix and more effectively address global issues such as environmental issues.
Any of the bank’s 189 members can nominate a candidate, although in 2019, Malpass is the only nominee to take the leadership of the institution.
In recent years, developing emerging market countries have challenged the unwritten arrangements of the American-led World Bank.
“We hope that President Biden will use this opportunity to break the old agreement on the appointment of the World Bank and the IMF in order to achieve a more transparent and merit-based global process,” said Oxfam International senior policy advisor Christian Donaldson.
The United States is the largest shareholder of the World Bank.
‘green transition’
Speaking to reporters, a senior US administration official said: “At Mastercard and General Atlantic, Ajay has fought climate change and leveraged private capital to help make the green transition a priority.”
“These are the experiences and priorities that will guide and lead his work in the coming years at the World Bank,” the official added.
In a separate statement, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Banga’s record of forging partnerships between the public, private and non-profit sectors will help her mobilize private capital and push for needed reforms.
Banga had joined Mastercard as president and chief operating officer in 2009, before being named chief executive a year later.
Prior to that, he was the executive director of Citigroup’s Asia-Pacific Region.
Grow disconnected
Luis Alberto Moreno, former president of the Inter-American Development Bank, told AFP that the World Bank is in a transformative moment because the global community is experiencing tensions and major development challenges, “the biggest of which is related to all energy. and climate transition.”
“We are in a moment where there is a growing connection between the global north and the global south. Just bringing that together takes people who not only have technical skills, but political skills,” added Moreno.
Asked about the World Bank’s push for female candidates, the US official said Banga has “personal conviction and a good track record” of promoting diversity in its work.
The World Bank has been led by people since it was founded after World War II.