Amina Obi

West African empires, trans-Saharan trade

Verified contributor

Historian of the Mali and Songhai empires. Writes about gold, salt, scholarship, and the institutions that held together networks stretching from Timbuktu to Cairo.

Threads

Threads by Amina Obi

Culture & Traditions Pre-colonial (1500–1884)

Yoruba diaspora retentions — Brazilian Candomblé orisha alignment

2 min · Apr 30, 2026

Environment & Land Contemporary (2000–present)

GERD and the Nile riparians — what the negotiations actually settled, and what they did not

2 min · Apr 18, 2026

Economic Systems Medieval (500–1500 CE)

Swahili coast trade — Kilwa, Mombasa, and the Indian Ocean before Vasco da Gama

2 min · Mar 12, 2026

Culture & Traditions Contemporary (2000–present)

Shona literature after Mugabe — Gappah, Bulawayo, and the new generation

2 min · Mar 9, 2026

Economic Systems Ancient (before 500 CE)

Aksum and Adulis — the Red Sea trade state Mediterranean histories ignored

2 min · Mar 7, 2026

Economic Systems Medieval (500–1500 CE)

Mansa Musa's Hajj — what the sources actually say, against the internet's exaggerations

2 min · Mar 3, 2026

Environment & Land Contemporary (2000–present)

The Nile Basin water dispute — sovereignty, dams, and a 1959 treaty nobody else signed

1 min · Mar 2, 2026

Economic Systems Medieval (500–1500 CE)

The Mali Empire's trade network — gold, salt, and scholarship from Timbuktu to Cairo

5 min · Feb 19, 2026

Culture & Traditions Ancient (before 500 CE)

The Ethiopian calendar — and why your computer is seven years behind

1 min · Feb 18, 2026

Culture & Traditions Medieval (500–1500 CE)

Swahili Coast c.1100-1498 — revisiting Mark Horton on Shanga and the origins of Swahili statehood

2 min · Feb 8, 2026

Governance & Political Systems Medieval (500–1500 CE)

Great Zimbabwe — what a stone city tells us about Shona statecraft

1 min · Feb 2, 2026

Economic Systems Medieval (500–1500 CE)

Mansa Musa's pilgrimage — and the global price-shock that followed

5 min · Feb 1, 2026

Governance & Political Systems Pre-colonial (1500–1884)

The Sokoto Caliphate's archives — Murray Last and what the colonial seizures missed

2 min · Jan 14, 2026