The Empire of Ghana formed in 300AD when different tribes of the Soninke people were united under the first king, Dinga Cisse. The Soninke people used the word ‘Ghana’, meaning ‘Warrior King’ to refer to the king, and the Empire’s enemies and allies subsequently began to refer to the region as ‘Ghana’
The Benin Kingdom was “one of the oldest and most developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa”. It grew out of the previous Edo Kingdom of Igodomigodo around the 11th century AD, and lasted until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897.
Togo gained its independence from France in 1960. In 1967, Gnassingbé Eyadéma led a successful military coup d’état, after which he became president of an anti-communist, single-party state. In 1993, Eyadéma faced multiparty elections marred by irregularities, and won the presidency three times.
From 1904 to 1958, Ivory Coast was a constituent unit of the Federation of French West Africa. It was a colony and an overseas territory under the Third Republic. Until the period following World War II, governmental affairs in French West Africa were administered from Paris.
Burkina Faso, previously known as Upper Volta, was once part of French West Africa since 1896 until 1960. The first people to settle in the area are the Mossi people in the 11th and 13th century. They established powerful kingdoms such as the Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga.
The Mali empire developed from the state of Kangaba, on the upper Niger River east of the Fouta Djallon, and is said to have been founded before 1000 ce. The Malinke inhabitants of Kangaba acted as middlemen in the gold trade during the later period of ancient Ghana.
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