Page 130 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

E p i l o g u e

utility services were angry at
Guinea’s vote against remaining
with France. They left the coun-
try almost overnight. They took Ancient Empires
with them the plans of the water
and sewage systems, ripped out Carved Up
electrical and telephone wires,
broke up bathroom fixtures, when the European powers divided up the african
and even removed light bulbs. continent into colonies in the 19th century, they estab-
Guinea was left with much of its lished artificial boundaries that cut right through ancient
basic support services in ruins. cultures and political systems. By the beginning of the
Guinea’s natural resources 1960s, when the former french west african colonies
include a third of the world’s had gained their independence, the former territories of
high-grade bauxite (a mineral medieval Ghana, mali, and songhay were located in sev-
used for refining aluminum) and eral different nations.
huge reserves of iron ore, ura- the ruins of Ghana’s cities of Kumbi saleh and awda-
nium, diamonds, and gold. The ghust are in southern mauritania, the goldfield of Buré is
headwaters of the Niger River in Guinea, and the rest of ancient Ghana is in mali. the
and many of its tributaries are heartland of the old mali Empire is divided between mali
in the Fouta Djallon mountains and Guinea, but its outer territories extend into senegal,
of Guinea, which means they mauritania, côte d’ivoire, and Burkina faso.
have great potential for gener- the former territories of medieval songhay now lie
ating hydroelectric power. But in mali, Niger, and mauritania. the ancient heartland
despite all its natural resources, of these empires, however, was located in what is now
for the first 30 years of its inde- Guinea and mali.
pendence Guinea ranked among
the world’s poorest nations. Its
natural resources have not been fully exploited because it has lacked
the necessary infrastructure and political stability.
Soon after independence, the country began sliding backward
under the repressive rule of its first president, Sekou Touré (1922–
1984). He claimed to be a descendant of the 19th-century resistance
leader Almami Samori Touré, who fought against the French.
Touré adopted a socialist economic model for Guinea, mean-
ing the government controlled much of the economy. He imposed
laws that discouraged individual ambition and eliminated private
enterprise by putting the government in control of industry and

129

GEP-West Africa_FNL.indd 129 10/19/09 11:07:35 AM