Final answer:
The most important trading partners of the Mali and Songhai Empires were located in North Africa and the Middle East, with goods traveling across trans-Saharan trade routes. Centers of trade such as Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenné were instrumental in connecting these empires to markets further afield.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most important trading partners of the Mali and Songhai Empires were located across the Saharan trade routes, particularly in North Africa and the Middle East. During the height of their power, these empires prospered from controlling and taxing the trans-Saharan trade of gold, salt, and other commodities.
Towns such as Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenné emerged as cosmopolitan centers of trade and learning, connecting to trade cities in North Africa like Marrakech, Fez, and Cairo, as well as to the Middle Eastern markets which further distributed African goods to Europe and Asia.
Critical to this trade were the Sanhaja and Tuareg nomads, who facilitated the movement of goods across the desert. They knew the oases and settlements along the routes and acted as caravan leaders, merchants, and traders. Some of the traded goods included gold from the Bure goldfields and salt from the mines in Targhaza.
With the decline of Mali, the Songhai Empire rose to prominence by securing these trade routes. The empire expanded to include territories previously under Mali and Ghana, with strategically placed cities like Timbuktu reaping the benefits of the trade.
The Songhai economy leaned heavily on the export of gold, kola nuts, and slaves, while importing textiles, horses, salt, and luxury goods. This economic system continued until the Moroccan invasion in the late 16th century, which led to the splintering of the Songhai Empire.