Mombasa modern period, Mombasa was a key node in the complex and far reaching Indian Ocean trading networks, its key exports then were ivory, millet, sesamum and coconuts. In the late pre-colonial period (late 19th century), it was the metropolis of a plantation society, which became dependent on slave labour (sources contradict whether the city was ever an important place for exporting slaves) but ivory caravans remained a major source of economic prosperity. Mombasa became the major port city of pre-colonial Kenya in the Middle Ages and was used to trade with other African port cities, the Persian Empire, the Arabian
Lagos–Mombasa Highway west. The eastern section of the Lagos–Mombasa Highway is also the only part of the whole network where the name 'Trans-African Highway' is in common use and is seen on a few road signs. Lagos–Mombasa Highway The Lagos–Mombasa Highway (also known as the "Mombasa-Lagos Highway") is Trans-African Highway 8 and is the principal road route between West and East Africa. It has a length of and is contiguous with the Dakar-Lagos Highway with which it will form (when complete) the longest east-west crossing of the continent for a total distance of Part of the transcontinental road network under development by