Ajay Banga: world must focus on creating jobs

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Aug 12, 2025

Ajay Banga, the President of the World Bank and former CEO of Mastercard, discusses pressing global issues. He emphasizes the urgent need for job creation as a cornerstone of sustainable development. The conversation highlights the potential of small and medium enterprises and the challenges posed by trade barriers. Banga also addresses the impending job shortfall against a backdrop of a growing workforce. He advocates for empowering communities through AI and infrastructure improvements, particularly in Africa, to stimulate economic growth and create opportunities.

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INSIGHT

Jobs Need An Orchestrated Approach

Jobs require a coordinated basket of interventions, not isolated projects like a single school or bridge.
Ajay Banga argues private-sector enablement, especially SMEs, is central to meaningful job creation.

INSIGHT

Trade Shifted The Poverty-Reduction Model

Global poverty reduction relied heavily on lowering trade barriers and shifting production to cheaper locations.
Banga warns that changing trade patterns and many regional deals have reshaped that growth model over 15–20 years.

ADVICE

Focus On Intra-Regional Trade

Countries should pursue intra-regional trade instead of relying only on big economies' markets.
Banga urges developing nations to reduce their own tariffs and trade with neighbors to boost growth and jobs.

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World must focus on creating jobs

Rahul Tandon speaks to Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank.

Born in India in 1959, Mr. Banga’s career in business began in the early-1980s, when he started out as a management trainee with the food multinational Nestlé. He then made the move into finance over a decade later, when he joined the Citigroup bank. He quickly rose through the ranks to become the Chief Executive of the bank’s Asia-Pacific business, before then moving onto Mastercard, where he eventually became CEO.

During this time, Mr. Banga, who became a US citizen in 2007, also advised a number of senior US politicians - including President Barack Obama and later, Vice-President Kamala Harris. It was Harris’ boss, President Joe Biden, who subsequently nominated him to lead the World Bank in 2023.

The World Bank is a group of international organisations, such as the International Development Association and the International Finance Corporation, that provide grants and loans to low and middle-income countries for the purpose of economic development. As some of these countries are considered to be too high-risk by the international financial markets, the World Bank is an important source of financial support.

Since the middle of the last century, the group has navigated multiple global political and economic challenges, adapting along the way to ensure that that financial support continues. Going forward, Mr. Banga believes there’s an overriding priority for sustainable development - jobs. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Rahul Tandon Producers: Ben Cooper & Niamh McDermott Editors: Nick Holland & Damon Rose

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