world bank: World Bank appoints its India head as VP, Operations at Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

Ahmad — who as Vice President, Operations would head the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) — is the second Bangladeshi national to be appointed to such a high position in the history of the bank.

Ahmad, 61, will assume his new role from April 16, an official release said here on Friday.

Fayez Choudhury was the first Bangladeshi national who became the vice president on the administration side.

In his new role, Ahmad will work to advance and enhance MIGA’s brand partnering across the World Bank Group and with financial institutions, private investors and development actors; originate and pursue meaningful, impact-driven projects and lead the Operations team to deliver on MIGA’s mandate of mobilising private finance for development projects in Emerging Market Developing Economies, the bank said in a statement.

“Our (World Bank’s) partnership with India is allowing us to learn and to share the learnings around the world. The most important is, as India’s economic development happens, the impact on global growth and poverty is very important,” Ahmad, who has been the country director for the World Bank in India since September 2016, told PTI in an interview.

“So, a country director of India overseeing such a program really is someone who is able to then begin to think about more leadership roles within the World Bank. So, the experience of India has been extremely important in offering me that experience and that perspective,” he said in response to a question.

Ahmad noted that the challenge in financing development is one of mobilising long-term capital markets.

“If you look at the challenges of development, whether it’s dealing with the pandemic, dealing with climate change, dealing with infrastructure, all of this will require long-term money,” he said.

“The money that’s needed is far more than what public finance can give. So, the name of the game is turning into how do you leverage public finance to bring in long-term capital into development. The way to do it is to de-risk development,” Ahmad said.

In its statement, the bank said Ahmad brings to this post deep experience and understanding of international development and an exemplary track record of thought leadership and service to World Bank Group client countries.

MIGA, a member of the World Bank Group, is headquartered in Washington. It offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against political and non-commercial risks in developing countries.