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
Green Actors of West Africa country assessments, holding of regional network meetings and capacity building training programmes for their partners in the sub-region. Green Actors of West Africa Green Actors of West Africa (GAWA) is a network of environmental organizations from West Africa created in 2005. The goal of GAWA Network is to develop ways of enhancing cooperation and coordination between and among the various donors and environmental (nature conservation) actors in this sub-African region. The geographic coverage of GAWA network members includes: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo. The initial concept of Green