Abstract

 

We investigate if West African tribes with lasting relationships with Britain, France, and Portugal have higher economic development, as seen by mean light density. In this paper we do not claim that the Atlantic Slave Trade developed West Africa. Rather, we believe development is determined by the strength of the relationships between European colonizers and African ethnic groups who were Raiders. We focus on the Raiders because they traded with the Europeans and benefited from this long-term exchange of slaves, goods and ideas. Our results confirmed our hypothesis: Raiders who sustained relations with Britain, France, and Portugal (treatment group) have higher mean light density than non raiders and those occupied by Spain, Germany, and Belgium.