As a result of monopolizing the gold trade and developing its agricultural resources, the Mali Empire prospered. The currency of Mali, like Ghana, was the guilders’ currency. A heavy guilder’s tax was ...

In the 1230s, a man called Sundiata Keita incorporated a series of smaller kingdoms into the Mali Empire. The empire was central to several key trading routes, and with the support of a well ...

The Mali Empire under Musa reflected Africa at one of the summits of its grandeur. But perhaps it is also a somber reminder of what an independent, flourishing Africa could have become.