Ajay Banga: Pragmatic Banga Right Choice For Wb’s Chief
The Times of IndiaFeb 24, 2023
The Facts
US Pres. Biden on Thursday nominated former MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga to head the World Bank, following the announcement of David Malpass' intention to resign last week.
The Bank stated Wednesday that it planned to interview a shortlist of up to three candidates, strongly encouraging female nominations. The bank aims to name a new leader by early May but it's unclear if other countries will put forward more candidates.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The nomination of Banga is a pragmatic choice that balances environmental action and the economic necessity for the world to grow out of poverty. The former head of the second-largest payment company, Banga has extensive economic experience in the private sector which many have great confidence will transition well into the World Bank.
Establishment-critical narrative
The Biden administration should withdraw this nomination. Neither MasterCard nor any of Banga's previous roles promote shared prosperity but rather contributed to growing global inequality. While Malpass needed to go, this nomination is not nearly adequate enough and simply perpetuates systemic problems.
Nerd narrative
There is an 18% chance that there will be fewer than 375M people in extreme poverty by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
