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Ajay Banga in Africa to Rally Support for World Bank Leadership Amid Stand-off With China

by Cobus van Staden
File image of Ajay Banga, the U.S. nominee to become the next president of the World Bank. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP

Ajay Banga, U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the World Bank, is on a ‘listening tour’ of Africa to drum up support for his nomination. Banga kicked off his visit to the continent in Ivory Coast and Kenya.

As a veteran of the private sector (he was an executive at Citigroup before heading Mastercard), Banga is an unlikely fit for a job usually occupied by development finance experts. While he is officially a nominee and is campaigning for support, the fact that he was appointed by Biden basically makes him a shoo-in.

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