He also praised Bob Geldof and the other Live 8 organisers for putting the pressure on world leaders to come up with a deal for Africa.

Wolfowitz, who attended some of the G8 sessions in Gleneagles, was speaking from an economic conference he was attending in France. He said those who criticised the agreement for Africa announced on Friday should look at how much progress had been achieved.

“I thought it was extremely positive,” he said. “If you’d told me a couple of months ago that there would be a commitment to a doubling of aid and debt cancellation, I’d have said you were dreaming.”

The World Bank, he added, would be able to use the money freed by the G8’s agreement on debt cancellation more effectively than in the past because it would be linked to performance. “It’s a deal for a deal,” he said. The quality of African leadership was improving, he added.

“The most significant thing about the G8 was that you had these very impressive African leaders there, all of whom represent the new leadership of the continent,” he said. “It’s the reason why I have cautious optimism that significant parts of Africa are starting to turn the corner.”

The leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania attended last week’s summit. Recent economic figures suggest that Africa’s economic fortunes have been improving, with economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa of 5.1% last year. Higher growth is expected this year, partly on the back of strong commodity demand from China.

The G8 agreed to increase overall development aid by $50 billion (£28 billion) by 2010, with half the increase going to Africa. It also endorsed an outline agreement by finance ministers last month to cancel $40 billion (£23 billion) of debt owed by 18 heavily indebted poor countries, mainly in Africa, with G8 members picking up the interest bill on this debt. The World Bank has been given responsibility by the G8 for ensuring that the additional resources are used properly.

Wolfowitz cautioned against “expecting everything to happen overnight” for Africa, and said that there was a lot of work still to be done on liberalising trade, on which the G8 had made little progress. But, he added: “I’m more optimistic after Gleneagles than I was before.”

As a man regarded as one of the most influential neocons in Washington, and a driving force behind the Iraq war, Wolfowitz’s appointment as World Bank president earlier this year was initially greeted with horror by development campaigners. They have, however, warmed to him, not least because of his role in persuading George Bush to take a more positive attitude towards development aid. The feeling appears to be mutual.

“The people who organised the Live 8 concerts and who mobilised so many people deserve a lot of credit,” he said.

Development campaigners have, however, been less positive about the outcome of the G8 than Geldof and Bono, the organisers of Live 8.

The Make Poverty History campaign said: “The G8 have chosen not to do all that campaigners insist is necessary to free people trapped in the prison of poverty. Important steps have been taken — steps that will bring hope to millions.

“But more action is urgently needed if they are to play their role in bringing about real change for the world’s poorest people and consigning extreme poverty to the history books.”

However, Simon Maxwell, director of the Overseas Development Institute in London, endorsed the World Bank president’s view. “Africa has been on the G8 agenda for seven years,” he said. “This is the best result to date.”

Wolfowitz condemned the terrorists who attacked London last week. “There was a stark contrast between the people at the G8 who were trying to do something about poverty and those who will stop at nothing,” he said.

“Those of us who have looked at these things closely are filled with admiration for the way the people of London and the authorities responded. This will go down in history as another proud achievement for the people of London.”

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