Ajay Banga Selected As Next World Bank President

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

The process to elect the president 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, the World Bank said in a release on Wednesday.

This was then followed by thorough due diligence and a comprehensive interview of Banga by the Executive Directors.

In February, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would be nominating Banga to lead the World Bank because he is "well equipped" to lead the global institution at "this critical moment in history".

Banga recently served as Vice Chairman at General Atlantic. Previously, he was President and CEO of Mastercard, a global organisation 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, the release said.

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 organisations that work 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.

Banga is 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, the Business Council for International Understanding's Global Leadership Award in 2019, and the Distinguished Friends of Singapore Public Service Star in 2021.

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. Apart from that, they are also ex-officio chair of the Board of Directors of the International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and of the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.