Table of Contents
What was the source of wealth in West Africa?
Mansa Musa inherited a kingdom that was already wealthy, but his work in expanding trade made Mali the wealthiest kingdom in Africa. His riches came from mining significant salt and gold deposits in the Mali kingdom. Elephant ivory was another major source of wealth.
What were the primary sources of wealth in West Africa?
Gold and salt were the largest part of West African economies. Slavery was another part of those economies. Many societies in Africa who were ruled by kings kept slaves. Slaves were seen as a symbol of power and wealth.
How did West African kingdoms grow wealthy through trade?
In Western Africa, three kingdoms became wealthy beyond belief by controlling important stops along the trans-Saharan trade routes. The major commodities exchanged in this lucrative network were gold and salt. This is one example of the abundance of gold found in this area of Africa.
What did West Africa trade?
A profitable trade had developed by which West Africans exported gold, cotton cloth, metal ornaments, and leather goods north across the trans-Saharan trade routes, in exchange for copper, horses, salt, textiles, and beads. Later, ivory, slaves, and kola nuts were also traded.
Which resources are most important for West African trade?
The main items traded were gold and salt. The gold mines of West Africa provided great wealth to West African Empires such as Ghana and Mali. Other items that were commonly traded included ivory, kola nuts, cloth, slaves, metal goods, and beads.
What did the traders bring to North Africa?
The merchants traded these and other goods for kola nuts, hides, leather goods, ivory, slaves, and gold from the southern forests of West Africa. Then they returned to North Africa, bringing the goods from the south to markets at home.
How did the kingdoms of West Africa trade?
Salt was used as a preservative, so it was in high demand in the West African kingdoms where it was not easily found. The West African kingdoms would trade their abundance of gold for salt, as well as other necessary goods. The trade was done via long trade routes across the Sahara Desert in the form of camel caravans.
What did Ghana have to do with trade?
Ghana was located between two areas that wanted to trade—North Africa and West Africa. Traders from North Africa crossed the Sahara with salt, copper, and cowrie shells—a type of seashell that was used as money.
What kind of economy does West Africa have?
USAID/West Africa focuses on private sector alliances in the Livestock and Grains, Transportation, Cashews, and Shea sectors: USAID/West Africa’s Feed the Future strategy identifies livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) and grains (maize, rice, millet and sorghum) as critical staple foods for regional food security.