In many ways, the formation of Afro-Atlantic communities was a function of the early interaction between Africans and Europeans, a distinctive feature of which was diplomatic, economic and cultural exchanges that granted Africans significant economic and political leverage. In Senegambia, trade relations were largely managed by tangos mãos, lançados and local traders based out of the Cabo Verde islands (Boulègue, 1989; Mark, 1999; Brooks, 2003; Green, 2012; Gijanto, 2016, pp. 40-1). Along the Gold Coast, coastal communities comprised of culturally mixed individuals played a key role in trade and provided food supplies and labour to European coastal forts (Daaku, 1970). Similarly, African kingdoms leveraged significant power in the Bight of Benin, establishing the framework within which trade and cultural exchange took place and benefiting greatly from the trade with the broader Afro-Atlantic (Law, 2005a).