Prometheus 6

Africa: Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil.
2007-05-24

Amy Goodman interviews John Ghazvinian, author of the book "Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil." It’s a little known fact that the United States today imports more oil from Africa than from Saudi Arabia. More than $50 billion in foreign investment in African oil is expected over the next three years by the United States. The book compares the global competition for the continent’s oil resources to the nineteenth century scramble for colonization.

TRANSCRIPT
Juan Gonzalez: We begin today's broadcast with a look at Africa and oil.
It’s a little known fact: the United States today imports more oil from Africa than from Saudi Arabia. More than $50 billion in foreign investment in African oil is expected over the next three years by the United States.

What has this oil boom meant for Africa’s ordinary citizens? Our first guest spent a year reporting across the continent to find out. John Ghazvinian is a journalist, who has written for publications including Newsweek, The Nation, and Time Out New York. His new book is called Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil. The book compares the global competition for the continent’s oil resources to the nineteenth century scramble for colonization.