Could European Colonialism in Africa Be Hindered by Prolonged Chinese Contact?

I thought spices were what fueled the East African slave trade. Didn't Zanzibar have a massive clove plantation?
If I remember correctly they also had massive slave markets or at least massive slave exports.
Or maybe technically speaking not so massive exports, since the horror stories of the East African slave trade includes
virtual reefs made out the would-have-been eunuchs who didn't survive the process (9 out of 10 according to wikipedia).

Come to think of it, a strong Chinese influence on how to produce eunuchs (slower and safer, from what I understand;
at least, the method I recall a description of - for court eunuchs, one presumes - included more steps and equipment than
a large pair of scissors), might have some kind of effect. Not sure what, though.
 
I'm not entirely sure "paying for European goods" was what drove the East African slave trade...

Also not sure whether the Chinese cared enough about such things to interfere with it.

East Africa was part of the Arab slave trade. Again they bought manufactured goods made in India and the Middle East and paid for in slaves.

When did anyone care enough about these things really. Probably the best thing Africans can do is for some well organized kingdom with good rain irrigation to start their own sugar plantations and export rock sugar.

I thought spices were what fueled the East African slave trade. Didn't Zanzibar have a massive clove plantation?

Zanzibar is one of the few places in Africa that grow Asian spices. Everything from cloves, nutmeg and mace, cinnimon and black pepper. Mostly introduced by the Omanis in the first half of the 19th century. I suppose the Kilwa could get them from the Chinese in the 15th century.
 
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