How feasible do you think this is?

I think this is entirely possible. If you go back four to five decades, when we talked about the development prospects of different parts of the world, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, when people looked at countries like Korea and China and Southeast Asia, they thought those countries of the world were the true basket cases. Africa with its resources and its proximity to Europe actually had much better prospects than East Asia. I think what we have seen is that with the right policies, growth miracles do happen. I do think that is entirely feasible for Sub-Saharan Africa as well.

Finally, a broad question: what is your overall outlook for economic growth in the world? Are you optimistic that economic growth will improve?

I cannot say I am optimistic or pessimistic. I think widespread growth is feasible, but the likelihood is hard to say. Vast parts of the world need economic growth; it will be the solution for ending endemic poverty. This is the case for Africa, Latin America, and most parts of the Middle East as well. When looking at it from the point of view of development challenges, I think that economic growth is the central task that awaits us.