US president Joe Biden nominates former Mastercard CEO to lead World Bank
US president Joe Biden has nominated former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank following the resignation of current World Bank president David Malpass.
Biden nominates former Mastercard CEO to lead World Bank
Banga, who is currently vice chair at private equity firm General Atlantic and serves in an advisory capacity for the firm’s $3.5 billion climate change fund, is a “global leader” in technology, data, financial services, and “innovating for inclusion”, the White House says.
The bank’s board of directors is expected to officially appoint its next leader in May. Malpass, who was nominated by former US president Donald Trump in 2019, is set to step down by June.
As CEO of Mastercard for more than a decade, Banga led the company through a “strategic, technological, and cultural transformation”, the White House says, before leaving the firm in 2021.
Banga’s CV includes a stint as chair of the International Chamber of Commerce between 2020 and 2022. He has also previously served as a board member at the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods, and Dow, and he is a co-founder of The Cyber Readiness Institute.
In a statement, Biden says Banga “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 adds that Banga, raised in India, possesses a “unique perspective” on the opportunities and challenges facing developing countries, which will be invaluable as the World Bank delivers on reducing poverty and broadening prosperity.
