Encyclopedia · Biography

Ajay Banga

World Bank Group president and Board of Peace executive member

Background

Ajaypal Singh Banga is a business executive whose career includes Citigroup and Mastercard.

Career and institutions

Banga was president and CEO of Mastercard and vice chair of General Atlantic before becoming World Bank Group president in June 2023. His formal role at the World Bank is separate from a private investment-company role.

Recent and documented role

The White House named Banga as a member of the founding Board of Peace Executive Board in January 2026; whether a specific World Bank project was authorized requires separate World Bank records.

Private-sector leadership and World Bank

Banga was born in India and began his career at Nestlé India and PepsiCo before joining Citigroup. He later served as president and chief executive of Mastercard and then vice chairman of General Atlantic. He helped establish Mastercard's Center for Inclusive Growth and held leadership roles at the International Chamber of Commerce and other institutions.

The World Bank's executive directors selected him as the institution's fourteenth president in May 2023, for a term beginning June 2, 2023. In January 2026, the White House listed Banga among the Board of Peace's founding Executive Board members. A personal place on that board does not mean the World Bank had transferred its finances or legal powers to the Board of Peace.

References

1. https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/who-we-are/leadership/ajay-banga
2. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2026/01/statement-on-president-trumps-comprehensive-plan-to-end-the-gaza-conflict/
3. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/05/03/ajay-banga-selected-14th-president-of-the-world-bank