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
West Africa cricket team West Africa cricket team The West African cricket team was a team representing the countries of Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone in international cricket whilst they were an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) between 1976 and 2003. They played in the ICC Trophy on three occasions, in 1982, 1994 and 1997, withdrawing shortly before the start of the 2001 tournament. The team was broken up into it's constituent parts in 2003, with Nigeria becoming an associate member of the ICC, the other three affiliates. A West Africa under-19 team contested the 2001 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship