A similarity between the ancient western African kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai is that these kingdomsestablished economies based on tradeGhana was one of the richest African nations during the time of the gold-salt trade. It mainly controlled the trade routes between West and North Africa. The North African people wanted gold and the East African people wanted salt.
The contributions of the ancient civilizations of Ghana, Axum, Kush, and Mali demonstrate thatadvanced societies developed in Africa before Europeans colonized this region.