Wolfowitz on Africa trip in wake of debt deal

[Rose Siding]

ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Paul Wolfowitz began an African voyage in Nigeria on Sunday on his first foreign trip as new World Bank president, after a historic weekend deal among rich countries to cancel the debts of some of Africa's poorest.
...
He said African leaders increasingly recognized the need for more regional integration and a better environment for private-sector companies to invest.

"There is enormous talent in this part of the world but it is very challenging, no matter how talented you are and how energetic you are, to make a success of it in a system that as a whole is not functioning," he said. "What is needed is a broadbased approach that tackles various elements together."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061200740.html

That's this Wolfowitz, ever a whiz with money as Pincus reminds us just today:
snip>
Testimony by then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz, one of the chief architects of Iraq policy, before a House subcommittee on Feb. 28, 2003, just weeks before the invasion, illustrated the optimistic view the administration had of postwar Iraq. He said containment of Hussein the previous 12 years had cost "slightly over $30 billion," adding, "I can't imagine anyone here wanting to spend another $30 billion to be there for another 12 years." As of May, the Congressional Research Service estimated that Congress has approved $208 billion for the war in Iraq since 2003.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/11/AR2005061100723.html