BENGALURU, India (AP) \u2014 The incoming president of the World Bank was born in India and forged his early business success there, a fact supporters say gives Ajay Banga valuable insight into the challenges faced by the developing countries the bank is supposed to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But not everyone is sure that Banga, who has spent most of the last two decades in the U.S. corporate world, can be counted on to shake up the bank in the way\u00a0some think it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked up Banga\u2019s credentials this week on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund\u2019s spring meetings in Washington. Banga, currently vice chairman at private equity firm General Atlantic, has more than 30 years of business experience, including as CEO of Mastercard and on the boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe has the right leadership and management skills, background, and financial expertise to lead the World Bank at a critical moment in its history,\u201d Yellen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That came after President Joe\u00a0Biden, in nominating Banga\u00a0in February, heralded his \u201ccritical experience\u201d dealing with urgent world challenges like climate change, even though his resume shows little to do with climate credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Bank \u2014 the world\u2019s largest and oldest development bank \u2014 includes 189 member countries with a mission to reduce poverty and build prosperity in the developing world. The threat of climate change is a major focus, with the bank billing itself as the largest financier of climate action in developing countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But leaders and activists from poorer nations, especially those vulnerable to the extreme weather made worse by climate change, have called for massive reforms in the entire multinational development bank system. Led by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and embraced by French President Emmanuel Macron, they have pushed something called the\u00a0Bridgetown Initiative, which would make it easier and faster for developing countries hit by weather disasters to get money with lower interest rates for both recovery and for building to be more resilient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mottley\u00a0tweeted a photo of herself and Banga\u00a0from a March 11 meeting, saying the two had discussed the Bridgetown Initiative and how the World Bank \u201ccan be responsive to helping save the planet, while easing the burden on the most vulnerable.\u201d France has also indicated support for Banga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banga will replace\u00a0David Malpass, a Donald Trump appointee who announced he would step down this June, a year early, after coming under pressure for declining to say whether he agreed with scientific consensus on climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Climate finance analysts are relieved that Banga at least believes climate change is caused by fossil fuels. But many are skeptical that his experience \u2014 which includes stints at Nestle, Pizza Hut and Mastercard \u2014 is a natural fit for climate finance. And while he comes from a climate-stressed state in India, a nation that\u2019s simultaneously battling growing energy demands and climate change effects, his long career in America adds to their wait-and-see attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anit Mukherjee, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation America, a think tank devoted to India\u2019s global development, called Banga\u2019s ascension \u201ca proud moment for India.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGrowing up in India, Banga will likely understand the issues developing countries face. It is also clear he understands markets around the world,\u201d said Mukherjee, who has worked closely on reforming multilateral development banks. \u201cWhether he will understand the challenges of climate financing and development is still unclear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, called Malpass\u2019s departure a historic opportunity to \u201cchange the system.\u201d But Banga is just old wine in a new bottle, Singh said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe has worked in corporations whose prime motive is profit. When it comes to development, especially climate change, it is about justice and equity,\u201d said Singh. Banga\u2019s background \u201cdoesn\u2019t inspire confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are facing multiple crises including climate change, the debt crisis, and the banking crisis. We cannot continue with the same systems that are responsible for these crises,\u201d said Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luiz Vieria, coordinator of the Bretton Woods Project, which watchdogs the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, lamented as unfair the tradition by which\u00a0the U.S. typically appoints the World Bank head\u00a0and Europe appoints the IMF head. Banga \u201cdoesn\u2019t even meet the bare bones criteria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The son of an Indian army officer, Banga was born in 1959 and educated in some of India\u2019s premier institutions. When India\u2019s economy liberalized in the early \u201990s, Banga was able to work and rise through the ranks of multinational corporations breaking into India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since moving to the U.S. in the early 2000s, Banga has held prestigious positions in the corporate world, including heading Mastercard and serving as director of Exor and Temasek, large holding companies whose portfolios are diverse and include media companies such as Mediacorp and the Economist as well as automobile companies like Ferrari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAppointing someone like Banga is a great way to open the conversation with developing countries,\u201d said Suranjali Tandon, an assistant professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, a research institute affiliated to the Indian government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Tandon wondered whether Banga will be able or willing to drastically change how the World Bank works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis private sector experience makes him well versed with taking high risks and getting high returns,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDevelopment finance, especially climate finance though, is about high risk and low return investments. Given this, I don\u2019t see the World Bank radically transforming under his leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BENGALURU, India (AP) \u2014 The incoming president of the W […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2421,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419\/revisions\/2421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}