DID YOU KNOW THAT AFRICA HAD A LEADING UNIVERSITY IN THE 12TH CENTURY. The wealthiest man in the worlds history was an African. Emperor Mansa Musa of the Mali empire. The 14th century emperor from West Africa was worth a staggering $400 billion, after adjusting for inflation. Musas wealth was a result of his countrys vast natural resources. The West African nation was responsible for more than half of the worlds salt and gold supply. One time when Mansa Musa went for a pilgrimage to Mecca, he gave out so much gold to the poor that the value of gold world wide depreciated and it took over a decade for it to recover. It is through the financial support of Mansa Musa that the University of Timbuktu established itself as the leader in religious and secular education and attracted several thousand foreign students from around the world. When I passed through Mali sometime in June this year, I got an image of a desolate country. One that had been destroyed by war and may take years to recover. The International airport at Bamako was like a military base with just military and UN aircrafts safe for one Ethiopian and one Kenya Airways planes. Isnt it sad that the the one time extremely wealthy empire is now a mere shadow of its former self? What did the people of Mali do right 800 years ago which they are getting all wrong in the 21st Century! #OurAfricanHistory
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 09:25:09 +0000
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