Costel’s Reviews > An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence > Status Update

The Benin Bronzes are perhaps the most iconic body of art found south of the Sahara, and they have become even more famous thanks to their huge significance in the restitution debate.

The idea that Europeans 'discovered' parts of Africa is a misconception. Africans such as Tippu Tib had long traversed large portions of the African interior and were familiar with its topography and terrain.

Some local sources suggest that Mozambique is derived from the name of a tenth-century Arab trader called Musa Bek.

Salt was still very important but cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean were also used as currency for internal trade.

At this time, the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta visited Mali and wrote his book Al Rihla, meaning 'The Journey'.

The Mouride movement was founded by the Senegalese mystic and poet Cheikh Amadu Bamba Mbacke. In 1895 he set up a global trading company based on three principles: follow Allah; work and provoke no one; and pray and study the Koran. Its followers became known as Mourides and today they number in the millions.

I got an idea of just how extensively Islam grew in West Africa when I was in Senegal, which made up part of the Ghana Empire. In the Senegalese capital Dakar, when it was time for Friday lunchtime prayers just about everybody stopped what they were doing and headed to the mosque. Around 95% of Senegalese today are Muslim.

Dr. Kane explained to me how Ghana traded gold, weight for weight, for salt with the rulers of North Africa, which had abundant sources of rock-salt bars from salt mines.

Today, around 40% of the population of Morocco and 30% of Algerians are Berber, and there are small but sizable minorities in Tunisia and Libya as well as millions of people of mixed heritage. The Berber language is still often spoken within these communities.

Broadly speaking, Sunnis (who today constitute about 90% global Muslims) focus on following the Prophet's example, with no intercessor being necessary between the believer and Allah; whereas Shias emphasize the lineage of the Prophet's family through a series of imams and rely on a 'clergy' such as ayatollahs to guide them in their faith.