This image focuses on the extensive trade routes controlled by the Mali Empire, which funneled wealth from gold and salt across vast regions. While the empire profited immensely, the question remains: did the common people along these routes see any benefit? The trade wealth was largely concentrated in the ruling class, with most local populations remaining impoverished.

A visual graph highlighting how much of Africa’s modern mineral wealth is exported globally, yet little of the profits return to the local economies. The flow of wealth from resource-rich countries to foreign corporations is eerily similar to the past, where local populations saw minimal gains from their own land's natural resources.

This image portrays bustling medieval trade hubs under the Mali Empire. While these hubs facilitated wealth generation for the empire’s elite, the local traders and laborers along the routes remained economically marginalized. The illustration questions who truly benefited from the lucrative gold and salt trade, and draws parallels to modern trade inequalities.

This data visualization compares modern African countries’ GDP to the amount of natural resources they export. Despite being rich in minerals and oil, many of these countries have low GDPs due to the unequal distribution of wealth and external control over their resources, mirroring historical patterns.

Depicting the strategic placement of trade routes across Africa during the Mali Empire’s reign, this image illustrates how the control of these routes concentrated wealth at the top. The common people, while essential to maintaining trade, saw few of the economic rewards, a reality that echoes today’s global trade systems.

This data graphic shows a comparison between resource ownership and profit distribution in Africa today. Despite controlling large percentages of the world’s resources, African nations see only a fraction of the wealth generated, much like during medieval times when empires hoarded profits, leaving the majority with little.

This image depicts the royal elite of the Mali Empire surrounded by gold and lavish goods, while the majority of the population remains in poverty. Despite the immense riches generated through gold and salt, the wealth was highly centralized, leaving the common people in a state of economic deprivation—a situation that still plays out in many modern societies where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few.

A bar chart illustrates how much of Africa's resource wealth (e.g., oil, minerals) is exported to other countries, compared to how much of the resulting revenue stays within African nations. Like the empires of old, foreign companies and nations extract resources, leaving local economies with little of the wealth. This parallels how the elite of the Mali Empire controlled resources while ordinary people saw none of the benefits.

This image contrasts Africa’s resource-rich lands with the poverty of its people, showing foreign corporations exploiting these resources. The imagery connects the exploitation during the Mali Empire, where resources were hoarded by the elite, to modern Africa, where foreign companies dominate resource extraction, leaving local populations impoverished.

This visual comparison shows the global corporations that control Africa’s oil and mineral resources, contrasted with the minimal economic impact felt by local African economies. The data highlights how, like the monarchs of the Mali Empire, these corporations wield immense control over resources and profits, leaving local populations with little economic gain.

This image focuses on the bustling medieval African markets under the Mali Empire. While trade flourished, only a small portion of the wealth flowed to the lower classes. The traders, much like modern-day small businesses in resource-rich nations, struggled under the weight of economic systems that funneled profits upwards to the elite.

A pie chart showing how foreign corporations take the lion’s share of profits from Africa’s natural resources. This visualization ties back to the historical monopolization of wealth by African empires and highlights how modern corporations have stepped into the role of resource controllers, leaving little for local economies and workers.