African Trade

Trade in Africa was a common thing. Africa is the second largest continent in the world. Trade was mainly salt and gold trade. West Africans had plenty of gold, but they needed salt. Both were valuable minerals that they needed. So they traded salt for gold. They used a system called silent barter. To do this, one group would leave their salt in a certain location. Then the next group would inspect the salt. If they were approved of, they would leave their gold and take the salt. This system was used commonly in ancient Ghana.