While the kingdom of Kongo soon became a focal point of the slave trade, with a devastating impact on its social and political fabric, the Loango coast was not seriously affected by the trade in human beings until the early eighteenth century. There, trade relations initially revolved around products like ivory and locally produced cloth sold in Luanda (Martin, 1972; Soares, 2017, pp. 59-86). By the mid-eighteenth century, however, the demand for enslaved labour in the Americas had brought French and British merchants to regions including Cabinda and Malembo, which accounted for more than half of enslaved Africans taken to the French Caribbean (Mobley, 2015, pp. 123-6).  
The Loango coast shared traits with the Slave Coast as both regions saw African kingdoms playing a pivotal role in the Atlantic trade. Another commonality was the rise of cosmopolitan trading groups which derived power and wealth from commercial exchanges with Europeans. However, key differences stand out, particularly with regard to the impact of the slave trade on African polities. While Slave Coast kingdoms kept a tight grip on Atlantic trade, the rise of trading families took a direct toll on the centralized power of the Loango kings. A case in point was the Ngoyo kingdom, whose royal elite lost power as members of its state apparatus gained wealth and power along the coast. In contrast to the power and wealth of coastal trading families including the Franque and Puna families, 'the last invested king of Ngoyo died in 1830' (MacGaffey, 2000, p. 192; Serrano, 1983; Martin, 1987, pp. 65-86; Pinto, 2006).