The World Might Need Less Canada: Canada in Africa: 300 Years of Aid and Exploitation (Book Review)

By Asad Ismi YVES ENGLER Red Publishing/Fernwood Publishing 2015, 326 Pages, $24.95 Mainstream academics and journalists like to portray Canada as a positive force on the international stage, but Yves Engler’s new book, Canada in Africa, shows how frequently Canadian governments and corporations play a destructive role abroad. In Africa, Canada’s government and mining companies […]

Chocolate and Imperialism: Ivory Coast’s Political Crisis Exposes Western Colonialism

By Asad Ismi The West African country of Ivory Coast, the world’s leading exporter of cocoa, has been politically paralyzed since a November 2010 election ended in both main contenders declaring themselves winners. Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo (backed by the Ivorian army) and his rival Alassane Ouattara, a former minister, both claim to have won […]

Canadian Mining Companies Set to Destroy Ghana’s Forest Reserves

By Asad Ismi Under pressure from Canadian and U.S. mining companies, the Ghanaian government seems ready to pass legislation in June 2003 which will open the country’s protected forest reserves to mining. The companies’ bulldozers are ready to rip apart thousands of hectares of rainforest in the Ashanti, Eastern and Western Regions if the government […]

The Ravaging of Africa: Western Neo-colonialism Fuels Wars, Plundering of Resources

By Asad Ismi The G8 Summit held in Kananaskis in June, pledged $6 billion dollars a year in so-called aid to Africa by 2006. The low figure caused Phil Twyford of Oxfam to say “We’re extremely disappointed by this wasted opportunity. They’re offering peanuts to Africa and recycled peanuts at that.” In 1999, debt service […]