Washington, Feb 24: US President Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Indian-American business executive Ajay Banga to become president of the World Bank, lauding his experience forging public-private partnerships to address financial inclusion and climate change.
The World Bank had on Wednesday said it expected to select a new president by early May to replace David Malpass, who announced his resignation last week after months of controversy over his views on climate change and pressure by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for him to adopt “bolder and more imaginative” reforms.
Raised in India but now a US citizen, Banga, 63, is vice chair of General Atlantic, a US private equity firm that has invested over $800 million in EV charging solutions, solar power and sustainable farming, and serves as honorary chair of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Banga’s nomination by the United States all but assures he will assume a job that oversees billions of dollars of funding as the institution embarks on a major series of reforms to better respond to climate change and other pressing challenges facing developing countries.
“Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history,” Biden said in a statement. “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.”
Biden singled out Banga’s experience in bringing together public and private resources to tackle urgent challenges such as climate change, and said his background growing up in India gave him a unique perspective on how the bank could deliver on its dual goals of reducing poverty and expanding prosperity.
The bank has historically been headed by someone from the United States, its largest shareholder, while a European heads the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but developing countries and emerging markets have pushed to widen those choices.
Banga’s nomination is the first to be made public, but the bank will accept nominations from other member countries through March 29. Germany, another major shareholder, this week said the job should go to a woman since the bank has never been headed by a woman in its 77-year history.
A senior US administration official said they did not know if other countries would nominate candidates for the post.
Asked about Washington’s decision to skip nominating a woman, the official said Banga had “a personal conviction and excellent track record promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the work that he does” and would bring that view to the bank.
