97-590: The United Africa Company ( UAC ) was a British company which principally traded in West Africa during the 20th century. The United Africa Company was formed in 1929 as a result of the merger of The Niger Company , which had been effectively owned by Lever Brothers since 1920, and the African & Eastern Trade Corporation . In the early 1930s the United Africa Company was nearly reduced to bankruptcy and as
194-576: A British company. A minority of the shares are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange . The company traces its origins to 1862 when John Holt , 20 years old at the time, with £27 in his pocket, sailed from Liverpool to take up an appointment as a shop assistant in a grocery store in Fernando Po (now part of Equatorial Guinea ). Five years later, he bought out his employer, and he was joined by his brother Jonathan. In 1868, Jonathan bought
291-541: A fertility statuette, created in the region of Senegambia , and may be associated with the emergence of complexly organized pastoral societies in West Africa between 4000 BCE and 1000 BCE. Though possibly developed as early as 5000 BCE, Nsibidi may have also developed in 2000 BCE, as evidenced by depictions of the West African script on Ikom monoliths at Ikom , in Nigeria . Migration of Saharan peoples south of
388-507: A Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book Description of Africa (1668) ". Its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa. It was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion and scramble of Africa. Portuguese traders began establishing settlements along the coast in 1445, followed by the French , English , Spanish , Danish and Dutch ;
485-630: A fisheries regulations Act in 2010 and installed a satellite-based monitoring system and Senegal enacted a fisheries code in 2015. In Cape Verde, the fishermen communities of Palmiera and Santa Maria have organized themselves to protect fishing zones. Mozambique finally created a conservation area, including a coastline. West Africa, broadly defined to include the western portion of the Maghreb ( Western Sahara , Morocco , Algeria , and Tunisia ), occupies an area in excess of 6,140,000 km , or approximately one-fifth of Africa. The vast majority of this land
582-516: A fleet of its own. It included a 2,116 GRT Scandinavian steamer that was renamed Ashantian , the 2,513 GRT steamship Woodville that was bought from the Southern Whaling and Sealing Company , and a 2,739 GRT steamer that was renamed Ethiopian . Oakmere was sold to MacAndrews & Co Ltd, Manchester and renamed Bazan . She was subsequently sold on in 1936 to Westcliffe Shipping Co Ltd, London and renamed Thorpehall . She
679-467: A result it came under the control of Unilever which had just been formed. Unilever had only been created from the merger of Lever Brothers and the Dutch Margarine Union earlier on 3 March 1929. The United Africa Company continued as subsidiary of Unilever until 1987 when it was absorbed by the parent company. William Hesketh Lever was a well known soap manufacturer and became involved in
776-590: A result of increasing aridification of the Green Sahara , Central Saharan hunter-gatherers and cattle herders may have used seasonal waterways as the migratory route taken to the Niger River and Chad Basin of West Africa. In 2000 BCE, " Thiaroye Woman", also known as the " Venus of Thiaroye", may have been the earliest statuette created in Sub-Saharan West Africa; it may have particularly been
873-611: A rich array of biomes , from biodiversity-rich tropical forests to drylands supporting rare and endangered fauna such as pangolins , rhinoceros , and elephants . Because of the pressure for economic development, many of these ecologies are threatened by processes like deforestation , biodiversity loss , overfishing , pollution from mining , plastics and other industries, and extreme changes resulting from climate change in West Africa . The history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods: first, its prehistory, in which
970-554: A schooner, which enabled the brothers to open more trading posts in West Africa. In 1874 the brothers opened an office in Liverpool. In 1881, John entered the palm oil trade. In 1884, the brothers formed a partnership, John Holt and Company , to consolidate their business interests. Subsequently, John entered into new partnerships, including a venture in Lagos in Nigeria in 1887. In 1897,
1067-510: A second wave of fleet expansion in 1930's partly due to improved trading conditions but also because Unilever had large sums of money in Germany which had been blocked by the German government. It was impossible to get this money out of the country in the normal way, but it could be used to build ships in Germany. This new building programme was agreed upon in 1934, and the first ship to be completed joined
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#17328522672301164-547: A subgroup of the Igbo people. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland and was administered by a priest-king called an Eze Nri . The Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people and possessed divine authority in religious matters. The Oyo Empire
1261-497: Is a transnational highway project to link 12 West African coastal states, from Mauritania in the north-west of the region to Nigeria in the east, with feeder roads already existing to two landlocked countries, Mali and Burkina Faso . The eastern end of the highway terminates at Lagos , Nigeria . Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) consider its western end to be Nouakchott , Mauritania , or to be Dakar , Senegal , giving rise to these alternative names for
1358-453: Is estimated at 419 million people as of 2021, and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 were female and 192,309,000 male. The region is demographically and economically one of the fastest growing on the African continent. Early history in West Africa includes a number of prominent regional powers that dominated different parts of both the coastal and internal trade networks, such as
1455-579: Is plains lying less than 300 meters above sea level, though isolated high points exist in numerous states along the southern shore of West Africa. Benin Burkina Faso The Gambia Ghana Guinea-Bissau Guinea Ivory Coast Liberia Mali Mauritania Nigeria Niger Senegal Sierra Leone Togo The northern section of West Africa (narrowly defined to exclude
1552-457: Is rather majestic and looks like a huge phallus and a deformed animal or thing is protruding from it. It is said to be the dwelling place of a pangool . Ngoye njuli is protected by the Senegalese authorities and attracts visitors. In West Africa, as in other parts of Africa where the baobab tree is found, the leaves are mixed with couscous and eaten, the bark of the tree is used to make ropes, and
1649-504: The Congonian was the first ship to be lost. She was torpedoed off Freetown by U-65 . A different fate befell the Takoradian and Gambian however. They had entered Dakar for diesel bunkers, and on 5 July 1940, shortly after the fall of France, they were boarded by Vichy French officials and impounded. They were not released until 1943. At sea the losses continued. On 5 August 1941
1746-564: The Kumasian was sunk by torpedo off the Irish Coast by U-74 . There was only one fatality, with all 59 survivors being picked up by Royal Navy corvette HMS La Malouine . In the early hours of 24 September 1941, Convoy SL-87, bound from Freetown to Liverpool, was attacked 500 miles off the Azores . Three ships were lost, namely Lafian , John Holt and Elder Dempster's Dixcove . U-107
1843-582: The Lagosian , which had been repaired after her earlier attack, was finally sunk by torpedo by U-167 on her way from Algiers to Takoradi via Gibraltar. She was hit by one torpedo and broke in two and sank southeast of the Canary Islands. 11 people were killed, and the 35 survivors were picked up by the British tug Empire Denis and landed at Bathurst , Gambia. A month later came the fleet's worst tragedy of
1940-573: The African slave trade began not long after, which over the following centuries would debilitate the region's economy and population. The slave trade also encouraged the formation of states such as the Bono State , Bambara Empire and Dahomey , whose economic activities include but not limited to exchanging slaves for European firearms . In the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist jihads swept across Western Africa. The most notable include Usman dan Fodio 's Fulani Empire , which replaced
2037-554: The Benue Trough , and others on a line running from Mount Cameroon to Lake Chad . Colonial boundaries are reflected in the modern boundaries between contemporary West African states, cutting across ethnic and cultural lines, often dividing single ethnic groups between two or more states. In contrast to most of Central, Southern, and Southeast Africa, West Africa is not populated by Bantu -speaking peoples. The West African region can be divided into four climatic sub-regions namely
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#17328522672302134-506: The Congonian (1942), the Kumasian (1943) and Lafian (1943). By 1945, UAC had only 10 ships. In 1947 three new ships were bought under the government ship disposal scheme and named Ashantian , Lagosian and Zarian . the following year the company commissioned two more ships: Nigerian and the tanker Matadian . These additions increased the fleet to 15. But the ships alone did not solve
2231-708: The Hausa city-states, Seku Amadu 's Massina Empire , which defeated the Bambara, and El Hadj Umar Tall 's Toucouleur Empire , which briefly conquered much of modern-day Mali. However, the French and British continued to advance in the Scramble for Africa , subjugating kingdom after kingdom. With the fall of Samory Ture's established Wassoulou Empire in 1898 and the Ashanti queen Yaa Asantewaa in 1902, most West African military resistance to colonial rule resulted in failure. Part of
2328-513: The Mali and Gao Empires . West Africa sat at the intersection of trade routes between Arab -dominated North Africa and further south on the continent, the source of specialized goods such as gold , advanced iron-working , and ivory . After European exploration encountered rich local economies and kingdoms, the Atlantic slave trade built on already existing slave systems to provide labor for colonies in
2425-726: The Senegambia region (Senegal and the Gambia) used to have a diverse wildlife including lions , hippopotamus , elephants , antelopes , leopards etc. However, during colonization, the European colonizers such as the French and British killed most of the wildlife particularly the lions, using their body parts as trophies. By the turn of the 20th century, the Senegambia region had lost most of its lion population and other exotic animals due to poaching . By
2522-509: The West Africa trade to supply his company, primarily with palm oil . In 1916 Lever took over the Manchester firm of H. Watson & Co., which had a fleet of eight vessels, with names derived from villages in Cheshire and Shropshire : Colemere, Delamere, Eskmere, Flaxmere, Linmere, Oakmere, Rabymere and Redesmere . This small fleet, whose tonnages ranged from 1,251 to 2,293, was formed into
2619-459: The forest-savanna region, were ultimately acculturated and admixed into the larger groups of West African agriculturalists , akin to the migratory Bantu -speaking agriculturalists and their encounters with Central African hunter-gatherers . The development of the region's economy allowed more centralized states and civilizations to form, beginning with Dhar Tichitt that began in 1600 B.C. followed by Djenné-Djenno beginning in 300 B.C. This
2716-565: The 10th-century Kingdom of Nri , which helped birth the arts and customs of the Igbo people , Bono State in the 11th century, which gave birth to the numerous Akan States, while Ife rose to prominence around the 12th century. Further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in present-day southeastern Nigeria and
2813-489: The 1930s, the Gambian elephant population became extinct. That phenomenon was not only limited to the Senegambia region but affected much of West Africa as the region lost much of its "natural resources once tied so closely to its cultural identity. Poaching has stolen most of its wildlife." The British issued poaching licenses, and although they would later try to reverse the damage that had been done by attempting to preserve what
2910-418: The 1950s. Some have identified the two recent decades as a recovery period. Others refer to this as a period of "hydrological intensification" with much of the annual rainfall increase coming from more severe rain events and sometimes flooding rather than more frequent rainfall, or similarly other works underline the continuity of the drought even though the rainfall has increased. Since 1985, 54 percent of
3007-497: The 2nd Officer going for his trousers... According to the best traditions and customs I was the last man to leave the ship... Shortly after the two boats got clear of the Lafian she turned over and slowly sank. All of the crew members, including the master, 37 crew members, 5 DEMS gunners and 4 passengers were picked up by HMS Gorleston and landed at Ponta Deldaga in the Azores. There
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3104-596: The Americas. After the end of the slave trade in the early 19th century , European nations, especially France and Britain , continued to exploit the region through colonial relationships . For example, they continued exporting a number of extractive goods , including labor-intensive agricultural crops like cocoa and coffee , forestry products like tropical timber , and mineral resources like gold. Since independence, many West African countries, like Ivory Coast , Ghana , Nigeria and Senegal , have played important roles in
3201-645: The Atlantic. Due to Mauritania's increasingly close ties to the Arab World and its 1999 withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in modern times it is often considered, especially in Africa, as now part of western North Africa . Major and principal cities in West Africa include, geographically eastward: Before European colonisation , West African countries such as those from
3298-703: The Bromport Steamship Company Ltd. – named after Bromborough , a town on the Wirral Peninsula that, like Port Sunlight , was dominated by Lever-owned businesses. It sailed under a new blue house flag, marked with a white star, the letters BSCL and a central L for Lever. In the two remaining years of the First World War the Bromport Line lost half of its ships ( Colemere , Eskmere , Redesmere and Delamere ) to German U-boats. In 1918
3395-465: The Company also had its own fleet of river craft. Apart from produce and merchandise, these river craft also carried cash. Where banks did not exist, John Holt had strongrooms. Even after banks were established, many Nigerians preferred to deposit their cash with John Holt. In 1970, the company was taken over by Lonrho . In 2001, Lonrho sold the company to a management-led group of investors. In 1961,
3492-458: The Guinea Coast associated with a reduction of the wet spells under both 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming level. A Trans-ECOWAS project, established in 2007, plans to upgrade railways in this zone. One of the goals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the development of an integrated railroad network. Aims include the extension of railways in member countries,
3589-662: The Guinea Coast, Soudano-Sahel, Sahel (extending eastward to the Ethiopian border) and the Sahara, each with different climatic conditions. The seasonal cycle of rainfall is mainly driven by the south-north movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which is characterised by the confluence between moist southwesterly monsoon winds and the dry northeasterly Harmattan. Based on the inter-annual rainfall variability, three main climatic periods have been observed over
3686-608: The Ivory Coast, have lost large areas of their rainforest . In 2005, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ranked Nigeria as the state with the worst deforestation rate in the entire world. Causes include logging, subsistence agriculture , and the collection of fuelwoods. According to a ThoughtCo publication authored Steve Nix (2018), almost 90 percent of West Africa's original rainforest has been destroyed, and
3783-640: The Liverpool company formed a locally incorporated subsidiary in Nigeria, John Holt Limited, to hold its Nigerian interests. It became a public company and was quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in May 1974. The company's businesses in Nigeria include the assembly and distribution of power generators, leasing, distribution of fire-fighting equipment, logistics, boat building and fabrication of industrial and agricultural equipment. The parent company in Liverpool
3880-513: The Liverpool-based company that was one of UAC's rivals in West Africa also operated its own fleet. The chief requirement of the West African trade was a fleet made up of several small ships rather than a few large ones. Deliveries had to be frequent, and there were many ports to be served. The size of the new company meant that the prospects for the new UAC fleet were much better than had been
3977-517: The Niger River basin between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria (northern Benin), rice ( oryza glaberrima ) in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali, pearl millet ( cenchrus americanus ) in northern Mali and Mauritania, and cowpeas in northern Ghana. After having persisted as late as 1000 BP, or some period of time after 1500 CE, remaining West African hunter-gatherers, many of whom dwelt in
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4074-589: The Sahel: the wet period from 1950 to the early 1960s followed by a dry period from 1972 to 1990 and then the period from 1991 onwards which has seen a partial rainfall recovery. During the dry period, the Sahel experienced a number of particularly severe drought events, with devastating effects. The recent decades, have also witnessed a moderate increment in annual rainfall since the beginning of 1990s. However, total annual rainfall remains significantly below that observed during
4171-562: The Sahelian region resulted in seasonal interaction with and gradual absorption of West African hunter-gatherers, who primarily dwelt in the savannas and forests of West Africa. In West Africa, which may have been a major regional cradle in Africa for the domestication of crops and animals, Niger-Congo speakers domesticated the helmeted guineafowl between 5500 BP and 1300 BP; domestication of field crops occurred throughout various locations in West Africa, such as yams (d. praehensilis) in
4268-685: The UK, on 21 March 1944. The only injury came when the Chief Officer was blown off the bridge by the blast. They were close enough to shore to be picked up by two Royal Navy motor launches HMS ML-282 and HMS ML-1016 . The also unescorted Dahomian was lost 10 miles west-southwest off Cape Point, South Africa on 1 April 1944, torpedoed by U-852 . Two crew died, and there were 49 survivors. They were picked up by two South African armed whalers HMSAS Krugersdorp and HMSAS Natalia , and landed in Simonstown. She
4365-453: The West African regions underwent an increase in the numeracy level throughout the 19th century. The reason for such a growth was predetermined by a number of factors. Namely, the peanut production and trade, which was boosted by the demand of the colonial states . Importantly, the rise of numeracy was higher in the regions which were less hierarchical and had less dependence on the slavery trade (e.g. Sine and Salum). Whereas areas with
4462-579: The archaeology of the city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, the Mali empire came to dominate much of the region until its defeat by Almoravid invaders in 1052. Three great kingdoms were identified in Bilad al-Sudan by the ninth century. They included Ghana, Gao and Kanem . The Sosso Empire sought to fill the void but was defeated ( c. 1240 ) by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita , founder of
4559-401: The case with the old Bromport Line. Soon UAC began to rapidly expand its fleet. Between 1930 and 1934 seven more second-hand ships were bought, the largest of which was the 5,449 GRT Lagosian . Following the traditions of A&E ships were named after countries or ports with which they served – Mendian , Zarian , Kumasian , Lagosian , Congonian , Gambian and Dahomian . There was
4656-511: The colony of Guinea-Bissau , while Germany claimed Togoland , but was forced to divide it between France and Britain following First World War due to the Treaty of Versailles . Only Liberia retained its independence, at the price of major territorial concessions. Following World War II , nationalist movements arose across West Africa. In 1957, Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah , became the first West African colony to achieve its independence, followed
4753-458: The earliest pottery in Africa – by at least 9400 BCE, and along with their pottery, as well as wielding independently invented bows and arrows , migrated into the Central Sahara, which became their primary region of residence by 10,000 BP. The emergence and expansion of ceramics in the Sahara may be linked with the origin of Round Head and Kel Essuf rock art, which occupy rockshelters in
4850-587: The end of colonialism, the region has been the stage for some brutal conflicts, including: Geopolitically , the United Nations definition of subregion Western Africa includes the preceding states with the addition of Mauritania (which withdrew from ECOWAS in 1999), comprising an area of approximately 6.1 million square km. The UN region also includes the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in
4947-748: The entire region; and fifth, the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed. West African populations were considerably mobile and interacted with one another throughout the population history of West Africa . Acheulean tool-using archaic humans may have dwelled throughout West Africa since at least between 780,000 BP and 126,000 BP ( Middle Pleistocene ). During the Pleistocene , Middle Stone Age peoples (e.g., Iwo Eleru people , possibly Aterians ), who dwelled throughout West Africa between MIS 4 and MIS 2 , were gradually replaced by incoming Late Stone Age peoples , who migrated into West Africa as an increase in humid conditions resulted in
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#17328522672305044-473: The first human settlers arrived, developed agriculture , and made contact with peoples to the north; the second, the Iron Age empires that consolidated both intra-Africa, and extra-Africa trade, and developed centralized states; third, major polities flourished, which would undergo an extensive history of contact with non-Africans; fourth, the colonial period, in which Great Britain and France controlled nearly
5141-434: The fleet in 1935. She was the 4,917 GRT Ashantian – the second ship to bear this name; the first having been sold in 1932. This was closely followed by her sister ship, the Kumasian . As the building programme gathered pace, most of the old second-hand vessels were sold; Zarian and Mendian were sold for scrap, and the original Kumasian and Congonian to Italian buyers in 1935 and 1936 respectively. The Gambian
5238-454: The following night he ( German Type IX submarine U-67 ) came again at about the same time but he only succeeded to strike one on this occasion, St Clair , managed by UAC and commanded by Captain Readman. She soon disappeared, in fact they did not have time to lower any boats and had to jump for it. They were later picked up by one of the escort vessels, but there were 13 missing when a roll call
5335-579: The fruit and seeds are used for drinks and oils. West Africa is greatly affected by deforestation and has one of the worst deforestation rate. Even "the beloved baobab tree" which is viewed as sacred by some West African cultures are under threat due to climate change , urbanization and population growth. "Huge swaths of forest are being razed to clear space for palm oil and cocoa plantations. Mangroves are being killed off by pollution. Even wispy acacias are hacked away for use in cooking fires to feed growing families." Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and
5432-520: The human population relies. West Africa is west of an imagined north-south axis lying close to 10° east longitude . The Atlantic Ocean forms the western as well as the southern borders of the West African region. The northern border is the Sahara Desert , with the Ranishanu Bend generally considered the northernmost part of the region. The eastern border is less precise, with some placing it at
5529-649: The interconnection of previously isolated railways and the standardization of gauge, brakes, couplings, and other parameters. The first line would connect the cities and ports of Lagos , Cotonou , Lomé and Accra and would allow the largest container ships to focus on a smaller number of large ports, while efficiently serving a larger hinterland . This line connects 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge and 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge systems, which would require four rail dual gauge , which can also provide standard gauge . The Trans–West African Coastal Highway
5626-592: The master and crew were returned to the vessel where she was towed to Rothesay by tugs HMS Superman and HMS Seaman . She was beached in Kames Bay on 30 September 1940. In May 1941 the ship was refloated and towed to Glasgow, where she was repaired and returned to service in September 1941. The crew of the unescorted Matadian were luckier when she was attacked and sunk by U-66 in the Gulf of Guinea , en route from Lagos to
5723-408: The mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland , but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin to the west. The Benin Empire was a post-classical empire located in what is now southern Nigeria . Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City , Edo . It should not be confused with
5820-474: The modern-day country called Benin , formerly called Dahomey . The Benin Empire was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa, dating perhaps to the eleventh century CE". The Benin Empire was governed by a sovereign Emperor with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and a powerful council rich in resources, wealth, ancient science and technology with cities described as beautiful and large as Haarlem . " Olfert Dapper ,
5917-482: The new Mali Empire. The Mali Empire continued to flourish for several centuries, most particularly under Sundiata's grandnephew Musa I , before a succession of weak rulers led to its collapse under Mossi , Tuareg and Songhai invaders. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao , in the Songhai Empire , under the leadership of Sonni Ali and Askia Mohammed . Meanwhile, south of Sudan, strong city-states arose in Igboland , such as
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#17328522672306014-408: The next year by France's colonies (Guinea in 1958 under the leadership of President Ahmed Sekou Touré); by 1974, West Africa's nations were entirely autonomous. Since independence, many West African nations have been submerged under political instability, with notable civil wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso . Since
6111-431: The number of registered trawlers operating in African waters, increase the monitoring and control and set up regional fisheries organizations. Some steps have already been taken in the form of WARFP (the World Bank's West Africa Regional Fisheries Program which empowers west-African countries (i.e. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, and Senegal) with information, training and monitoring systems. Furthermore, Liberia enacted
6208-400: The opposite trends illustrated opposite tendencies (e.g. central and northern Senegal). Those patterns were further even more stimulated by the French colonial campaign. Britain controlled the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria throughout the colonial era, while France unified Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, and Niger into French West Africa . Portugal founded
6305-405: The partnerships were absorbed into a new limited company, John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd . The company built up an extensive produce trade, in which palm oil, palm kernels, rubber and cocoa were exported from Nigeria to England. Imports included textiles from Lancashire and bicycles from Birmingham . A fleet of ships operated a fortnightly service from Liverpool to West Africa and
6402-400: The population has been affected by five or more floods in the 17 Sahel region countries. In 2012, severe drought conditions in the Sahel were reported. Governments in the region responded quickly, launching strategies to address the issue. The region is projected to experience changes in rainfall regime, with climate models suggesting that decreases in wet season rainfall are more likely in
6499-444: The port side aft. Fortunately there were no casualties and she was towed to Falmouth by the tug HMS Salvonia for repair and she returned to service in June 1941. She had been en route in ballast from Portsmouth to Dakar. Lagosian was not so lucky. In September 1940 she was bombed in the North Sea with the loss of five lives. Like the Conakrian , which was torpedoed in October 1940, she was able to reach port, but on 18 November 1940
6596-411: The problem of how UAC's shipping interest should best operate in the post-war era. It was becoming clear that the future of the shipping side of the business could best be served by establishing it as an independent company, a common carrier able to operate in the same way as other lines and not tied exclusively to UAC traffic. Hence, on 16 February 1949, an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders
6693-415: The region's wildlife populations, there are still some protected nature reserves within the region. Some of these include: West Africa is also home to several baobab trees and other plant life . Some baobab trees are several centuries old and form part of the local folklore, for example, a mythical baobab tree named Ngoye njuli in Senegal which is regarded as a sacred site by the Serer . The tree itself
6790-405: The regional and global economies. West Africa has a rich ecology , with strong biodiversity and several distinct regions. The area's climate and ecology are heavily influenced by the dry Sahara to the north and east, which provides dry winds during the Harmattan , as well as the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west, which provides seasonal monsoons. This mixture of climates gives West Africa
6887-453: The rest is "heavily fragmented and in a degraded state, being poorly used." Overfishing is a major issue in West Africa. Besides reducing fish stocks in the region, it also threatens food security and the livelihoods of many coastal communities that largely depend on artisanal fishing . The overfishing generally comes from foreign trawlers operating in the region. To combat the overfishing, Greenpeace has recommended countries reduce
6984-435: The road: The capitals' airports include: Of the sixteen, the most important hub and entry point to West Africa are Kotoka International Airport , and Murtala Muhammed International Airport , offering many international connections. John Holt plc John Holt plc is a Nigerian conglomerate that participates in many areas of the economy. The Nigerian company is a subsidiary of John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd ,
7081-651: The same regions (e.g., Djado , Acacus , Tadrart ). Hunters in the Central Sahara farmed, stored, and cooked undomesticated central Saharan flora , underwent domestication of antelope , and domesticated and shepherded Barbary sheep . After the Kel Essuf Period and Round Head Period of the Central Sahara, the Pastoral Period followed. Some of the hunter-gatherers who created the Round Head rock art may have adopted pastoral culture, and others may have not. As
7178-425: The ship was doomed as she was filling up and taking a list to starboard. I of course agreed and then went forward to the sailor's and firemen's quarters to make sure that none had slept through it. I found no one and returned amidships where all the officers and crew were assembled, all accounted for. We lowered the boats and while the men were filling them an apparition in white flew past me. This later turned out to be
7275-728: The south Atlantic Ocean . In the United Nations scheme of African regions , the region of Western Africa includes 16 states and the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha : Mali , Burkina Faso , Senegal and the Niger are mostly in the Sahel , a transition zone between the Sahara desert and the Sudanian Savanna ; Benin , Ivory Coast , The Gambia , Ghana , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Liberia , Sierra Leone , Togo and Nigeria compose most of Guinea ,
7372-463: The starboard 2 lifeboats, but one of them swamped, so all had to board the single remaining lifeboat. At daylight they reboarded the vessel, recovered the swamped lifeboat and sent distress signals to a circling aircraft. The commander of the Flower-class corvette HMS Gloxinia ordered the crew to leave the vessel again because a U-boat was reported in nearby Dromore Bay. On 27 September 1940,
7469-724: The steps to create its own fleet with the purchase of the Cunard steamer Tyria , which was renamed Ars – from the old Royal Niger Company Latin motto, Ars Jus Pax (art, justice, peace). Ars was scrapped in 1930 When the merger took place the new company had a fleet of five ships. The idea of trading companies in West Africa to operate their own fleets was not new since many of the companies that now formed part of UAC, including Hatton & Cookson , had had their own fleets, sixty or more years before. Millers Ltd and F&A Swanzy Brothers, both African & Eastern subsidiaries, were still operating sailing ships as late as 1924; and John Holt's ,
7566-476: The submarine. The master and 29 survivors were picked up on 11 December 1942 by US Navy submarine-chaser USS PC-624 and landed at Moruga Bay, Trinidad . The chief officer and 14 survivors were picked up by Canadian merchant ship Newbrundoc and the 2nd officer and 6 survivors were picked up by Panamanian merchant ship Maravi . Twenty days later, at 21:23 on 28 December 1942, on her way from Leith to Takoradi and straggling from Convoy ON 154 , Zarian
7663-528: The subsequent expansion of the West African forest . West African hunter-gatherers occupied western Central Africa (e.g., Shum Laka ) earlier than 32,000 BP, dwelled throughout coastal West Africa by 12,000 BP, and migrated northward between 12,000 BP and 8000 BP as far as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. During the Holocene , Niger-Congo speakers independently created pottery in Ounjougou , Mali –
7760-445: The torpedo hit. The survivors were picked up by HMS Northern Gift within 3 hours. Ashantian had survived an earlier attack by U-137 on 26 September 1940, when, as part of Convoy OB 218, she was hit amidships on the port side by a single torpedo. It disabled the ship, killing four crew members on watch in the engine room. Both port lifeboats had been destroyed, and the 38 surviving crew members immediately abandoned ship using only
7857-659: The traditional name for the area near the Gulf of Guinea ; Mauritania lies in the Maghreb , the northwestern region of Africa that has historically been inhabited by West African groups such as the Fulani , Soninke , Wolof , Serer and Toucouleur people , along with Arab-Berber Maghrebi people such as the Tuareg ; Cape Verde is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean ; and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha consists of eight main islands located in four different parts of
7954-604: The twin-screwed vessel SS Kulambanga , owned by Lever’s Pacific Plantations, was added to the fleet. In February 1920 Lever acquired the Royal Niger Company , just in time for the West African trade bubble to burst (the price of palm kernel oil fell from £115 per ton in Feb 1920 to £55 per ton in July 1920). In 1923 Lever Brothers decided to cut their losses and withdraw from deep sea shipping. In 1923, African & Eastern had formed
8051-661: The war. On 21 April 1943, on the way to New York in Convoy ONS-3, the Ashantian was torpedoed by U-415 and sunk northeast of St.Johns with the loss of 16 crew members, including the master, Captain Charles Carter-Taylor and convoy commodore Captain Jeffery Elliott, DSO, RD, RN. They were both last seen trying to release a raft aft. She was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side, and suddenly sank only 7 minutes after
8148-463: The western Maghreb) is composed of semi-arid terrain known as Sahel , a transitional zone between the Sahara and the West Sudanian savanna . Forests form a belt between the savannas and the southern coast, ranging from 160 km to 240 km in width. The northwest African region of Mauritania periodically suffers country-wide plagues of locusts which consume water, salt and crops on which
8245-545: The western Sahel, and increases more likely in the central to east Sahel, although opposite trends cannot yet be ruled out. These trends will affect the frequency and severity of floods, droughts, desertification , sand and dust storms, desert locust plagues and water shortages. However, irrespective of the changes in seasonal mean rain, the most intense storms are expected to become more intense, amplifying flood frequency. Enhanced carbon emissions and global warming may also lead to an increase in dry spells especially across
8342-507: Was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western, North Central Nigeria and Southern Republic of Benin . Established in the 14th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the outstanding organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade and its powerful cavalry . The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the region from
8439-581: Was bombed and sunk off Valencia on 25 May 1938 in the Spanish Civil War . In 1925 African & Eastern commissioned its first ship, the 3,543 GRT Nigerian , and when the Woodville was sold in 1928 she was replaced by another new ship, the 3,832 GRT Lafian . In the same year the Niger Company, encouraged by the improvement in its fortunes and influenced by the example of its rival, took
8536-515: Was en route from New York to Cape Town, via Trinidad. She was the last UAC ship to go down. Of the 16 ships that started the war, nine had been sunk. Of the seven remaining, five were damaged. The only two ships unscathed were Leonian and Ethiopian which had served most of the war with the Royal Navy. In addition to the ships, 46 lives had been lost. During the war, UAC had tried to make good their losses by building three replacement vessels, namely,
8633-683: Was held to set up a new company. This was done by reviving the dormant articles of association of the old Southern Whaling and Sealing Company and changing its name to Palm Line . West Africa West Africa , also called Western Africa , is the westernmost region of Africa . The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin , Burkina Faso , Cape Verde , The Gambia , Ghana , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Ivory Coast , Liberia , Mali , Mauritania , Niger , Nigeria , Senegal , Sierra Leone , and Togo , as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ( United Kingdom Overseas Territory ). The population of West Africa
8730-493: Was left of the local wildlife, but by that time, it was too late. During the 1930s, the elephant population in the Gold Coast was about 300, and Sierra Leone between 500 and 600. Although a small number of elephants survived in Nigeria, hunting, agricultural expansion and clearing of forest in that country drastically affected its wildlife population, particularly elephants. Despite the historical damage that has been done to
8827-463: Was no loss of life. The unescorted Nigerian was sunk at 00:05 hours on 9 December 1942. She had survived an air raid in Liverpool during the blitz, but this time she was sunk by torpedo 130 miles off Trinidad by the German Type IX submarine U-508 . Four crew members and one passenger died. There were 56 survivors. Four passengers (an RAF officer and three army officers) were taken prisoner in
8924-550: Was responsible for all three. Captain Evan Llewellyn Philips MBE, master of the Lafian , left this account of her last voyage. On the fifth or sixth night after our departure from Freetown the fun started. The first ship to be torpedoed was one of the Silver Line , which was hit amidships and dropped astern...On the next night, about the same time, 2230 hours, the enemy struck again and two ships were hit and sunk. On
9021-400: Was sold in 1936. The launching of Lafian and Zarian in 1938 marked the end of this major building programme. With the outbreak of war in September 1939 the British government immediately requisitioned all 16 UAC ships. In 1933 she was sold to Britain and renamed Dahomian for United Africa Co Ltd, London. In 1937 purchased from C. J. Reim, Porsgrunn, (Norway) renamed Warrian . She
9118-689: Was sunk in a collision in the Gulf of Guinea on 12 December 1941. Guinean was the first of the fleet to see action. On 17 June 1940 she was at Saint-Nazaire taking part in the evacuation of remnants of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Operation Aerial . On 30 June 1940 the Zarian was torpedoed by U-26 250 nautical miles (460 km) off the Scilly Isles. She was struck amidships on
9215-508: Was taken. About 0430 hours the same night we were hit amidships as was the John Holt , the Commodore ship, and another ship belonging to Elders. There now remained four vessels out of the 13 which left Freetown, but I did hear that the remaining four reached their destination. When I reached the bridge after we were hit my Chief Officer, Mr Croft, asked if he could lower the lifeboats. I could feel
9312-604: Was then succeeded by the Ghana Empire that first flourished roughly between the 2nd and 12th centuries C.E., which later gave way to the Mali Empire . In current-day Mauritania, there exist archaeological sites in the towns of Tichit and Oualata that were initially constructed around 2000 B.C., and were found to have originated from the Soninke branch of the Mandé peoples . Also, based on
9409-416: Was torpedoed and sunk by U-591 , with the loss of four lives. Zarian had been initially struck by a torpedo from U-406 , but it was U-591 that delivered the coup de grâce on the, now abandoned, Zarian just before midnight. Four crew members were lost, with the 49 remaining survivors picked up by the destroyer HMS Milne at 08:15, and landed at Ponta Delgada in the Azores. On 28 March 1943
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