I am a US citizen although you don’t see much on the outside.” The in pectore candidate for World Bank president, Ajay Banga, is not lacking in irony. Born in India, he is recognizable by his turban, as he prescribes the Sikh religion he practices and which envisions the “divine unity and equality of all mankind”; commitment to “selfless serviceâ€; he fights for justice, goodness and prosperity for all; honest conduct; life as the head of the family.
Banga, born near Pune in 1959, is the son of a multi-decorated soldier in the Indian army, Harbhajan Singh Banga, who has little sympathy for both Chinese communism and Islamic fundamentalism.
After completing his studies in economics, he began his career in 1981 at Nestlé, in India, as an intern, where he would remain for 13 years. He later joined Pepsi Cola, where he developed a fast food franchise, and later at Citi, between 1996 and 2009, where he developed the consumer credit business. From the New York headquarters, he soon took over the helm of the American entity’s Asian business.
In recent years, moreover, he has obtained other prestigious assignments: he is at the head of the International Chamber of Commerce, he is appointed trade policy consultant by Barack Obama and chairs the US-India Business Council. And in the private sphere, he reached the presidency of Exor, the financial holding company of the Agnelli family, as well as the vice-presidency of the financial company General Atlantic.
Many now wonder what the creed of this executive is, who will surely go on to lead the World Bank, being the only candidate (proposed as tradition dictates, by the United States). In a recent conference this month, Ajay Banga illustrated his vision of his world, which by way of summary we could summarize with this decalogue, worthy of a management manual.
