The Mandinke empire of Mali, founded by Mansa Uli around 1200, replaces the kingdom of Ghana ("mansa" means ruler or king). Ghana had been much weakened due to attacks from the kingdom of the Almoravid Berbers from Morocco to the north. The kingdom finally fell completely in 1203 to the Sosso people. Mali was ruled by Mansa Sunjata (sometimes spelled Sundiata) from 1230 to 1255. During his rule the cities of Walata and Timbuktu became major trading centres.

The greatest and most famous of all of Mali's kings was Mansa Musa, who ruled from 1307 to his death in 1332. His capital was the city of Niani. He expanded Mali's borders to include the cities of Timbuktu, Djenne and Gao. The army of Mali was based on armoured cavalry, similar to the knights in Europe. Armour covered both man and horse. Some metal was used, but most common were protective suits of brightly coloured quilted cloth. The padded quilt was cooler, lighter and more flexible than metal armour, but could still stop an arrow at all but close range. The Mali soldiers were armed with spears and bows and became the most feared military force in West Africa. The Malians were not just warriors, but were also great mariners, and sailors from Mali during the time of Mansa Musa may have reached Brazil. While European traders were beginning to use credit, merchants from Mali had already developed their own system of banking and credit, adapted from the Arabs. Mansa Musa, a follower of Islam, built many large and beautiful mosques throughout the kingdom, and, using Arabic script, increased the level of literacy in his realm.

Mali went into decline after the death of the great king. The subject city of Gao rebelled in 1375 under the Sonni ("king") Suleiman-Mar. Around 1400, Gao was strong enough to raid the Mali capital itself, and about 50 years later became the centre of the new Songhai Empire, which now became the most powerful state in West Africa. In 1468, Sonni Ali conquered Timbuktu. Sonni Muhammad Toureacute (1493-1528) made Islam the state religion of the empire.

The first kingdoms of the Hausa people were founded in what is now Nigeria after 1200. The first kingdom was called Daura.

Between 1440 and 1473, during the reign of the Oba or "king" Eware the Great, the kingdom of Benin expanded into a great forest empire.

In 1441, Portugal opens up a direct slave trade with the west coast of Africa. For the first time captives are taken directly from West Africa to Portugal. Before, slaves were bought and sold through North African middlemen. In 1472, the Portuguese had made contact with the Benin Empire.

Djenne