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Taxation
The king had total control over the gold produced throughout the nation. There were means of creating and controlling the scarcity of gold in order to avoid over production, which would glut the market. Hence gold mines were concealed from foreign merchants and all the gold belonged to the king, however, the people were allowed access to whatever gold they found lying around. There was a time when there was so much gold in circulation that the king passed a law giving all of the gold nuggets to himself, while the people were only allowed to possess gold dust. Henceforth, all gold nuggets were surrendered to the king. El-Bakri wrote, "without this precaution, gold would have become so abundant that it would have lost its value".
Ghana�s wealth primarily came through its participation in the international trade with the Arabs. Arab merchants would cross the hot and deadly sands of the Sahara desert in a two-month journey on camel to Ghana. On reaching Ghana, they met their agents with whom they would resume the march again for twenty more day, after which time they would reach the river Senegal. Upon reaching the riverbanks they would summon the local people by beating on large drums. They would place their goods on a cloth and depart. The people of Ghana would come with their own goods and place it beside the merchandise and leave. If the merchants were satisfied with what was left they took the goods left by the Negro traders and beat their drums, which would signify that the market was over and departed. The goods they brought into Ghana was, Copper, Salt, Horses, Brocade, Vessels, Cowries Shells, Books, Glass Beads, Cloth, and Dried Figs and Dates. The goods they received while in Ghana were Gold, Slaves, Honey, Kolanuts, Ivory, Corm, Gum, Ostrich feathers, and Cotton among other commodities. Ibn Hawqal narrated in his records of financial transactions in Audaghost in the ancient nation of Ghana, "I have seen a draft concerning debt owed by Muhammad bin Ali Sadun in Audaghost and witnessed by assessors of 42,000 dinars", which value is over $200,000 today!
There was an effective system of taxation in ancient Ghana. El-Bakri wrote, "The king of Ghana places a tax of one dinar of gold on each donkey load of salt that comes into his country�, places a tax of two dinars of gold on each load of gold that leaves Ghana. The government also taxed 20 grams of gold per load of copper and 40 grams of gold per load of general merchandise. The revenue accrued was used in paying the cost of running the government and paying for the upkeep of the king, Ministers, Provincial Governors, and Civil Servants. However most of it is used in providing people with the facilities they need to take part in trade and maintaining the royal palace.
