It was the immense industrial potential of palm oil that first grabbed the attention of Europeans during the Industrial Revolution and led to Britain waging war on King Ja-Ja (Jaja) in the 19th century writes Afua Asantewaa in the conclusion of her series.

About three weeks after my arrival in Ghana that a friend, Yao, handed me the calabash of palm wine with the directive, “Try this; it’s deha, palm wine.” I had heard much about the treasured drink that was such a staple of West Afrikans’ culture it also reigned in their literature but the frothy, milk-like [...]

In the small, rural community of Ave, in Ghana’s Volta Region, the majority of the citizens know best not to sneer at the old customs of their village, which are all steeped in the traditional religion of their Ancestors. Most of the five hundred citizens, including the elders, profess a belief in one of the [...]

Theperfect inlet to write or do nothing. The history of intermarriages between locals and foreign traders has allowed a coastal family to consist of parents and children who look like typical Afrikans with dark skin, flared nostrils and tightly coiled hair while in the same family will be others with complexions close to that of [...]

Well, the bushmeat may be a little strange but the fufu is not. (Afua Asantewaa photos) One of the wonderful things about living in Ghana is that Ghanaians, like other people of Afrikan descent, are food loving people. The mere sight of a Ghanaian enjoying a meal could tempt any stanch anorexic to promptly regain [...]

The ubiquitious satellite dish is on elegant thatch roofed village houses. It was a Saturday in December and I was on my way to Masai country—Kenya. I left Toronto at 6pm, and boarded the plane for the six hour flight to Amsterdam. I spent all of Sunday in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport before getting on Kenya [...]