Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

The Ravaging of Africa, Part 2 -- Economic War
Bill Quigley
16 Jan 2008
🖨️ Print Article
Written by Asad Ismi and produced by Kristin Schwatrz    
 
The Ravaging of Africa is a four part audio documentary series about the destructive impact of US imperialism on the continent.
 economic_war9
The ravaging of Africa has been enriching Europe and North America for more than 500 years.  The second of four episodes of this audio documentary focuses on the role of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  Through these institutions structural adjustment polices have been imposed upon African nations forcing them to end free education, to curtail health services, and sell the national wealth to privatizers at bargain basement rates, resulting in pandemics of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.  
 
The destruction of health and educational infrastructure caused by these "reforms" has led to 21 million deaths from preventable disease and malnutrition since the mid 1980s.   More than 200 million Africans have absolutely no access to health care services.  Forty percent of Africa's children are out of school and more than 140 million young Africans are illiterate, all thanks to "structural adjustment".
To listen to the entire 30 minutes of "Economic War on Africa" click the flash player below.
 
{mp3}ravaging_of_africa/economic_war{/mp3} 
Credits 
 Written by Asad Ismi 
 Produced by Kristin Schwartz 
 Translation by Maziar Mohajir at Toronto Conversation Corner & Farid Omar 
 Voice-over by Benedicta Madawo 
This production was funded by Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 CUPE National Canadian Union of Postal Workers National CUPW North Bay Local
Canadian Labour Congress
Public Service Alliance of Canada
Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation
Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
MiningWatch Canada
Ontario Public Interest Research Group (Univ. of Toronto)
CHRY 105.5 fm Toronto
Continuing Education Students Association of Ryerson
50 Years is Enough (Washington, DC)
Fair Trade Clothing Co-op (www.fairtradeclothing.ca)
Charles Roach
   

Broadcast-quality copies of all four episodes of The Ravaging of Africa can be downloaded from www.radio4all.net, where a large and constantly updated library of free, broadcast quality audio is maintained.  Click here to download this and the episodes of this documentary. 

 
To listen to episode 1 of The Ravaging of Africa -- Militarizing Africa, click here.
To listen to episode 3 of  The Ravaging of  Africa -- Corporate Plunder, click here. 

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • People's Assembly for Peace and Sovereignty of Our Americas
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    John Parker on Solidarity with Venezuela
    19 Dec 2025
    John Parker is the coordinator of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice In Los Angeles and a leading member of the Struggle for Socialism Party. He is joining us from Los Angeles to discuss…
  • Saturday's with Renee
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley , Renee Johnston , Jared Ball
    Birthright Citizenship and the African World
    19 Dec 2025
    Margaret Kimberley was recently a guest on the Black Liberation Media program, Saturdays with Renee, with Renee Johnston and Jared Ball. They discussed the issue of birthright citizenship in light of…
  • Sudan
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor , Ahmed Kaballo
    Struggling for Sovereignty: Sudan After Two Years of Civil War
    17 Dec 2025
    After two years of civil war, Sudan is now the site of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. However, as in most conflicts in the Global South, colonial and neocolonial history are a large part…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Turtle Island Liberation Front Warning for Activists
    17 Dec 2025
    Arrests of members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front are the latest in a decades-long effort to criminalize the left and to make examples of anyone who might fit the profile of being a "…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    REVIEW: Radical Black Reading, 2025
    17 Dec 2025
    An end-of-the-year radical Black reading list from the editors of The Black Agenda Review.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us