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In North Africa, Ghana was a center of the gold trade, run by Berbers who dominated camel transport across the Sahara and bought gold from the Soninke tribes in exchange for salt.
In the largest desert on the planet, the Sahara, a caravan of Muslim merchants and camel travelers crossed the desert. At the head of the expedition was Ibn Battuta [72] , a Moroccan of origin, who traveled all his life and described in detail his travels in Africa , Russia , Morocco and India , and at sea, in southern China .
In the Sahara Desert there are high average temperatures (38 ° C), particularly hot and dry. A dangerous place for travelers, but it contains the most vital resources, such as salt, which before the appearance of refrigerators, kept food dry, absorbing water and preventing bacteria. The caravans crossed the Sahara Desert and faced arid heat, lack of water and sandstorms to transport salt to cities in Mali , such as Koumbi, Saleh, Djenne or Timbuktu.. Djenne and Timbuktu were educational centers where Muslims mingled with Africans. Mali reached the peak of its civilization during the reign of Mansa Musa, one of the richest people in history due to the abundant gold in Mali. When he made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, he took with him 500 slaves and 90 camels laden with gold. He, too, as a devout Muslim, built the Great Mosque of Djenne, which was completed only in 1907. In Mali, salt was so in demand that it was paid for in gold. The trading cities of Mali exported ivory, gold and slaves to the Muslim world and to the cities of Venice and Genoa in Europe. African gold will be the basis of the Renaissance and the cultural leap of Europe.
In East Africa, after the collapse of the kingdom of Axum , Ethiopia , founded by the Zagwe Jewish dynasty in 1137, developed, expanding its territory into the mountains of East Africa, encompassing many territories. Most Ethiopians converted to Christianity. In 1270 the Solomonic dynasty was founded, whose members claimed descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Benin, in the rainforests of West Africa, was a center for extracting gold from the savannahs on the high plateaus. Its capital, Benin, had wide streets, bordered by wooden houses and surrounded by a 40 km long wall. King Oba 's palace was richly decorated with bronze plaques and sculptures. Merchants in the city traded in fabrics, ivory, metals, palm oil and pepper. And Zimbabwe has thrived on copper and gold deposits, exploiting more than a thousand mines. Zimbabwe has become famous for the Great Zimbabwe, the city of the palace, surrounded by walls.
Between 1424 and 1434, Prince Henry the Navigator , son of the King of Portugal, after discovering in Morocco valuable objects from West Africa, Songhai and Senegal, his curiosity prompted him to embark on a naval expedition and explore the African coast, reaching the current area. state Sierra Leone. Henry's expedition motivated the Portuguese to sail later and further along the West African coast in search of sea routes to India and the Far East.
