The emergence of port towns in pre-colonial Sub-Saharan Africa, 1450-1850: What kind of development did they entail?

This article analyses the economic and political functions of port towns in Sub-Saharan Africa during the early modern age. It focuses on the relative impact of slavery on social and economic structures and the way in which it promoted the consolidation of extraction-based economic activities. In addition, this paper presents a basic typology of port towns, introducing a number of specific features for each one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]