History of West Africa more states. Early human settlers arrived in West Africa around 12,000 BCE. In the fifth millennium, as the ancestors of modern West Africans began entering the area, the development of sedentary farming began to take place in West Africa. The Iron industry, in both smelting and forging for tools and weapons, appeared in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BCE, and by 400 BCE, contact had been made with the Mediterranean civilizations, and a regular trade included exporting gold, cotton, metal, and leather in exchange for copper, horses, salt, textiles, and beads. Culture developed further with the Nok culture (1000 BCE to
Nigeria–South Africa relations groups, mostly involved in illegal drug trafficking, in South Africa grew rapidly between 1994 and 1998. Increasing competition between the two countries for positions at multilateral organizations is also thought to have worsened relations. Nigeria acted against South Africa to replace the incumbent Jean Ping, who Nigeria supports, with South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the powerful position of the African Union Commission chairperson. Relations further deteriorated when South Africa backed incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo for control of Côte d’Ivoire in 2011. However, after Dlamini-Zuma won the election Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru stated that