This undated photo supplied by the World Bank shows its new president Paul Wolfowitz. Wolfowitz, 61, took office on June 1, 2005 as the 10th president of the World Bank in its 61-year history. (Xinhua Photo)

Protesters stand outside the World Bank as former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz begins his new position as President of the World Bank June 1, 2005. (Xinhua photo)

    WASHINGTON, June 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Paul Wolfowitz, new World Bank president, said Wednesday that his immediate goal is to help Africa become "a continent of hope."

    Wolfowitz, 61, took office Wednesday as the tenth president of the World Bank in its 61-year history.

    "There are promising signs that some African countries are growing strongly enough to reduce poverty, but that there are still enormous challenges preventing much of the continent delivering real gains in poverty reduction", Wolfowitz said in a press release.

    "There's a long, long way to go but I would find nothing more satisfying than, at the end of this institution, to feel that we have played a part in what hopefully could be a period when Africa went from being a continent of despair to a continent of hope," the president said.

    Other regions are no less important, Wolfowitz said. He said hewill be focusing on ways to ensure the Bank continues to work with governments throughout all regions to provide the resources and technical help they need to deliver better lives to their poorest people.

    "I want to focus as much as I can on what I would call real-world priorities," Wolfowitz said.

    The new president paid tribute to his predecessor James Wolfensohn's ten years of leadership, in particular for focusing the Bank on fighting corruption, promoting gender equality, and ensuring developing countries are "in driver's seat" in efforts to reduce poverty.

    Wolfowitz, former US deputy defense secretary, was unanimously confirmed as the next president of the World Bank by the institution's Board of Executive Directors on March 31. Enditem