The new head of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, arrived Sunday in Nigeria on the first leg of a four-nation African trip in which debt relief will be high on the agenda. Finance ministers from the globe's richest countries, grouped together in the G-8, agreed Saturday on a historic deal to cancel US$40 billion (¤33 billion) worth of debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest nations, most of them in Africa. Much of the canceled debt was owed to international institutions such as the World Bank. The World Bank is financing 334 development projects in Africa with a price tag of US$16.6 billion (¤13.57 billion). Wolfowitz plans to tour some of the projects and talk to people the projects are intended to help. He also will meet with government officials and groups involved in development. After Nigeria, Wolfowitz is expected to visit Burkina Faso, Rwanda and South Africa.
