Ajay Banga, former Mastercard CEO nominated by Joe Biden to head World Bank

US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the nomination of former Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga as a candidate to lead the World Bank, after the development lender's current head announced plans to step down early.

The World Bank has just started accepting candidate nominations in a process set to run until March 29, with the bank saying that women contenders would be "strongly" encouraged.

The president of the Washington-based Bank is typically American, while the leader of the International Monetary Fund is customarily European.

Banga, who is Indian-American, was previously chief executive at Mastercard, and has also served on the boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc. He currently is vice chairman at private equity firm General Atlantic.

The 63-year-old Sikh was born and raised in India, travelling regularly as a child due to his father's military career, and started his career there before emigrating to the United States.

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