When the current president of the development lender announced plans to resign early, US President Joe Biden named former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga as a contender to run the World Bank on Thursday.
The World Bank has recently begun taking nominations for candidates in a process that will last until March 29. According to the bank, female candidates will be “highly” encouraged.
The head of the International Monetary Fund is normally European, while the president of the Washington-based Bank is typically American.
Formerly serving as Mastercard’s CEO, Indian-American Banga has also served on the boards of Dow Inc., Kraft Foods, and the American Red Cross. He presently serves as vice chairman of General Atlantic Private Equity.
The 63-year-old Sikh was born, raised, and began his career in India before immigrating to the United States. He traveled much as a child due to his father’s military profession.
According to a statement from Biden, Banga has “important expertise mobilizing public-private resources to solve the most serious challenges of our day, including climate change.”
The World Bank’s current president, David Malpass, said last week that he will leave his position almost a year early, completing a tenure dogged by concerns about his stance on climate change.
Malpass was appointed to the position in 2019, during Donald Trump’s administration, and his original tenure was set to expire in 2024.
The nomination of Banga comes at a time when development financiers are being urged to modernize and more successfully tackle issues including environmental concerns.
Any one of the bank’s 189 members may put forth a candidate, but in 2019, Malpass was the only one considered for the position.
