1. Warm Up
Should the Wildlife Preserves in East Africa be used for wildlife or farmland? Why?

2. West & Central Africa

3. Welcome to West Africa!

4. Trading Empires of West Africa
Ghana (meaning war chief)
Mali
Led by Mansa Musa (richest king ever!!)
Songhai
Trade relied mostly on Gold and Salt
Seen as equal value in Africa
--Turn & Talk: Hypothesize why gold and salt would be of equal value in Africa.
--We will share out in 2 minutes!

5. West African Culture Ashanti– people of Ghana
Famous for their colorful weavings known as Kente cloth
Main religion is Islam
Fun Fact: Kente cloth, known as nwentom in Akan, is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan ethnic group of South Ghana. Kente is made in Akan lands such as Ashanti Kingdom, and by Akans in the Ivory Coast. It is the best known of all African textiles.

6. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade 1650-1860CE
Mesoamerican slaves died of disease
Europeans needed a new source of slave labor
African rulers would trade potential slaves for guns & other goods
Millions of Africans were enslaved
20% died on route to the Americas

7. How do you think that slavery has shaped the culture in Africa?
Turn and Talk
How do you think that slavery has shaped the culture in Africa?
Does the world or at least those who benefited from slavery owe Africa for the difficulties inflicted upon it by the slave trade?

8. Welcome to Central Africa!

9. Central African Culture
Bantu-- Central African peoples who migrated from Central to South Africa
Known as the Bantu Migrations
Many Africans speak some form of Bantu
They moved South to find more land
Fang sculpture-- wooden carvings
Usually masks painted white & facial features outlined in black
The Fang people live in Central Africa

10. Colonialism in Africa
Stateless Society- society in which people rely on family lineages to govern themselves instead of elected officials
Occurred before colonialism
Cause: started with King Leopold III of Belgium in early 1880’s
He wanted to exploit the region for economic gain
Effects:
Centralized governments with lots of corruption
No regard for tribal boundaries
Loss of resources
Cultural & ethnic oppression
Little or no infrastructure
Little or no education

11. Ongoing Issues in the Region
Democratic Republic of the Congo
1st leader- Mobutu Sese Seko
Took kickbacks from economy
Used army to maintain power
Education challenges
Lack of teachers, & schools
High dropout rate
700+ languages spoken in Central Africa

12. Exit ticket: So, what to do?
How do you think the region can address its current state given the troubled past in this part of Africa?
What issue should this region of Africa tackle first?