WASHINGTON, June 8, 2023-The World Bank Group announced today a months-long global tour for new president Ajay Banga, an early step in his mission to write a new playbook for the 78-year-old institution.
Between now and December 2023, Banga will visit multiple countries in every region where the World Bank Group operates. During the impact-focused tour, Banga will work to reimagine strategic partnerships with other multilateral banks and development organizations, work to identify barriers for private sector investment, deepen the relationships between the World Bank Group and the countries it serves, and identify opportunities to maximize impact through knowledge, financing, and technical assistance.
These intensive visits come at an important time for the World Bank Group and the global community. Intertwined challenges - poverty, climate, pandemics, conflict, and fragility - have made development more difficult, eroding a decade of progress in a matter of months.
The World Bank Group is being asked to evolve and lead global efforts to lift up lower income countries while improving quality of life in middle income countries. At the same time, the institution must confront the climate crisis, debt, food insecurity, pandemics, and fragility; and accelerate access to clean air, water, and energy.
The tour will begin next week when Ajay Banga visits World Bank Group operations in Peru and Jamaica. In a concrete sign of Banga's commitment to partnerships, he will be joined by Inter-American Development Bank president Ilan Goldfajn. The two leaders will explore opportunities for greater collaboration and coordination to maximize our joint impact for people.
"Aspirations of people around the world are universal - people are eager to work and want a better life for their children and grandchildren. They want jobs, they want quality of life," said Ajay Banga, World Bank Group president. "However, there is a diversity of challenges and countries are experiencing them differently. The World Bank Group must reach out to all of them and we need a new playbook to do it. That is the road we are on."
Over the course of the tour, Banga will visit small island states in the Pacific as well as countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, West and East Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Banga started his role as the 14th World Bank Group president on June 2, 2023, when he asked staff to double down on development and join him in tackling intertwined global challenges.
Banga invited staff to help him write a new playbook, think creatively, take informed risks, and forge new partnerships with civil society and multilateral institutions to achieve the institution's ambitions.
Before his selection by the World Bank board of governors, Ajay Banga traveled extensively and met with 96 governments, speaking with civil society, business leaders, and seeking out experts in climate, development, and finance.
