World Bank’s new chief asks staff to ‘double down’ on development

Ajay Banga told the staff that his vision was to ‘create a world without poverty on a livable planet’.

New World Bank president Ajay Banga has asked the lender’s 16,000 employees to redouble efforts on development and climate as he seeks to accelerate the bank’s evolution to address the most pressing global issues .

On his first day at work on Friday, the former Mastercard CEO told staff in a memo seen by Reuters that he would try to recruit each of them to work towards his vision “to create a world without poverty on a livable planet”. “.

“To deliver on our ambition, we must evolve to maximize resources and write a new playbook, think creatively, take informed risks and forge new partnerships with civil society and multilateral institutions,” Banga wrote.

He also said the bank needed to become more efficient, reducing approval time for financing projects, which can now take up to three years.

“The process is overly elaborate and subject to multiple review mechanisms that not only take valuable years but also undermine staff ambition,” he said, contributing to a “trust deficit” among developing countries.

Banga met with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday, who urged him to “get the most out of the bank’s balance sheet” and mobilize more private capital, the Treasury said.

Yellen last year began pressuring the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to revamp their business models and dramatically scale up credit resources to address climate change, pandemics, food security and other global crises.

This would take development lenders beyond the country-specific project loans they’ve been pursuing for decades, though she has insisted they maintain their core mission of reducing poverty.

In his memo, which included his statement to the World Bank’s Governing Council during an April 1 job interview, Banga said annual investments of trillions of dollars were needed to halt the forces of climate change and fragility while human capital is built up and health inequalities are combated. , education and financial access.

“We are at a critical juncture in the arc of humanity and the planet. The World Bank Group is called upon to lead the way, redouble development and climate efforts and deliver even greater impact and results,” he said.

He added that this would require “all shoulders to the wheel” and that all World Bank divisions should work together to provide solutions the world needs.

Banga, 63, was elected president of the World Bank for a five-year term by the lender’s board of directors in May.

Nominated by US President Joe Biden, the Indian-born finance and development expert was the only candidate for the job.

Climate requirements

He succeeds David Malpass, who came under fire last year for comments that raised questions about his personal views on global warming, despite the bank doubling climate finance during his tenure to $32 billion last year.

Climate and development groups welcomed Banga and began presenting demands, including that the bank withdraw completely from financing fossil fuel-based projects and take stronger action to cancel poor countries’ debts.

Kevin Gallagher, director of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, said Banga must first restore staff morale at the bank and implement balance sheet reforms quickly to squeeze more loans from existing resources.

“Under his tutelage, the world must deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and a major tranche of the Paris climate commitments. He just can’t do it without a capital raise and a big increase in resources.”