What were the items West Ancient Africa traded just to get that item?
“In their book A Glorious Age in Africa, authors Daniel Chu and Elliot Skinner state that the “lifeblood of the [Ghana] empire was trade.” Therefore, the Saharan trade routes were instrumental to the empire’s success. Merchants carrying foodstuffs to the kingdom would trade them for locally produced goods such as cotton cloth, metal ornaments, leather goods, and above all GOLD. Koumbi was the trade center and capital of the empire. While the Sudan, where the Empire of Ghana was situated, posessed a large amount of gold, the region lacked adequate salt for the survival of Empire’s population. The Desert regions of present day Morocco and Algeria, however, contained huge salt resources, and desert inhabitants were always in search of valuables. Not surprisingly, the gold-salt trade between the Ghana Empire and the Arab desert merchants flourished.
