Trade and Gold

Trade
For the kingdom of Ghana, trade wouldn't have been possible if not for camels. Berber-speaking people traveled across the Sahara with the help of camels and settled a kingdom which came to be known as Ghana. This event occurred in and/or around the fifth century, and caused many other people (mostly traders and merchants) to undertake trans-Saharan travel. These people traded with the Soninkes (the peoples who came to control Ghana). Many different commercial trade centers began to pop up all over Ghana. Of course, these traders did not cross a whole desert to trade for just anything. They came for the gold.

Gold beads or pendants from ancient Ghana.

Gold
Ghana, called the'Land of Gold' at the time, had some of the most abundant gold mines on Earth. This kingdom's power came from their gold; they traded some, but kept much of it for themselves (their royalty often embellished themselves with gold jewelry and adornments). Gold was already high in demand all over the world, especially in the Mediterranean, for coinage. The kingdom of Ghana encouraged the consumption of salts from traders that came from around the Mediterranean in order to  keep good business and trade relations with them.