Pretoria - Africa is top priority for the World Bank, the group's new president Jim Yong Kim said in Pretoria on Thursday.
“I've worked in Africa. Africa is one of my absolute top priorities,” he told reporters.
“You can rest assured that on every level I am deeply committed to the growth and success of Africa.”
Kim's visit to South Africa and the Ivory Coast was his first trip abroad in his World Bank capacity.
He earlier met President Jacob Zuma with eight ministers and deputy ministers and said he was impressed with the level of analysis the ministers had offered.
“We had long and intense discussions about how to improve implementation and delivery,” he said, adding that this was a problem for every country in the world.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said recent unrest in the platinum sector would not affect growth “in any significant way”.
“It's important that we communicate to the world that South Africa is still hard at work and that most of it is highly productive,” he said.
Gordhan was referring to events at Lonmin's Marikana mine, in which 44 people were killed last month Ä 34 by police on August 16.
He welcomed Kim to South Africa, and said the government supported his stance to eradicate poverty and develop inclusive growth across the world.
“We are both quite happy to be described as activists,” he said. - Sapa