Ajaypal Singh Banga is all set to become the first Indian-American to become the 14th President of the World Bank come early June 2023. He breaks the tradition of only Americans leading the world’s one of the two major global financial institutions to date – making India proud. The finance and development expert was hand-picked by the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden. He will be taking the reins over from David Malpass.
Born in Pune, Maharashtra, India in 1959 to Harbhajan Singh Banga and Jaswant Kaur. Hailing originally from Jalandhar, Punjab, his father seved in the Indian Army as a lieutenant-general.
In his long and successful career, Ajay has a proven track record for bringing reforms aiding global development. Recognized for his efforts, Ajay now has even a taller order to fulfill when it comes to addressing challenges such as extending a helping hand to struggling countries in the face of issues such as conflict and climate change.
Proud Indian’s Upwardly Mobile Career
An alumni of Delhi University and IIM-Ahmedabad, Ajay is the second son of Harbhajan Singh Banga, a retired lieutenant-general in the Indian Army. Till recently, Ajay was the Vice Chairman of General Atlantic prior to which he had held key positions with major global companies including Nestle India, PepsiCo, Citigroup as CEO. In 2007, Ajay immigrated to the US and took up his role as the President and the COO at Mastercard and later went on to become the company’s CEO in 2010.
Ajay had also served as the Honorary Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, from 2020-2022. He had received the Distinguished Friends of Singapore Public Service Star in 2021, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Business Council for International Understanding’s Global Leadership Award in 2019, Padma Shri Award by the Government of India in 2016. In 2015, he was appointed to the US President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations in 2015. In 2012, he was honored with the Foreign Policy Association Medal.
Tackling Global Development Challenges
Ajay has his work cut out for him for the next five years of his reign as the President of World Bank and is gearing up to work on the World Bank Group’s list of development challenges around the world. He has been helping companies the world over in creating jobs and helping materialize investments in struggling economies enabling a positive transformation.
As the new chief of the World Bank Group, Ajay will be the Chair of the Board of Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and also be the ex-Officio Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Development Association (IDA).
Congratulations Ajaypal Singh Banga!