Indian American Ajay Banga took over as the President of the World Bank on Friday. With this, he has become the first black person to head two global financial institutions – the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On May 3, the Executive Directors of the World Bank elected Banga (63) as the 14th President of the World Bank. His tenure will be of five years. President (US President) Joe Biden announced in February that the US would nominate Banga for the post of President of the World Bank.
World Bank posted picture on Twitter
The World Bank posted a photo of Banga entering its headquarters on Friday, tweeting: “Join us in welcoming Ajay Banga as the new President of the World Bank Group. We are committed to building a world free of poverty.” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva tweeted, “I wish Ajay Banga all the best as he assumes his new role as President of the World Bank today. I look forward to continuing the deep partnership between our institutions to do good and help those in need.”
Banga was the Vice Chairman of General Atlantic.
Banga is the first Indian-American to head the World Bank. He replaces David Malpass, who decided to resign in February. Banga was earlier the Vice Chairman of General Atlantic. Prior to that, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the global conglomerate Mastercard. Became the CEO of Mastercard in 2009. It was during his tenure that MasterCard expanded significantly in India. Along with this, he is also instrumental in bringing the security feature of Master Card. Mastercard employs approximately 24,000 employees.
Who is Ajay Banga
Ajay Banga’s identity is linked to India. His full name is Ajaypal Singh Banga. Banga was born on 10 November 1959 in Pune, Maharashtra. His father Harbhajan Singh Banga was a lieutenant general in the army. His family is originally from Jalandhar. He is a graduate in Economics from St. Stephen’s College and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. The Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri in the year 2016. In 2012, the famous magazine Fortune selected Banga as ‘Powerful Industrialist-2012’. He is the brother of Manvinder Singh Banga, former chairman of Hindustan Unilever. After completing his MBA, he joined Nestle India as a Management Trainee in 1981 and rose to become a Manager in 13 years. He then became part of PepsiCo’s restaurant division. He has an important contribution in bringing Pizzahat and KFC, which are very famous in India at this time.
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