In my TL, West Africa is developing several centuries sooner than it did IOTL due to Carthage winning the 2nd Punic War and spurring a large scale trans-Saharan trade to pay off its wartime debts.
I have a sahelian state that spans the Senegal and Niger rivers and I was wondering if it's plausible that a permanent canal could be made to connect the two rivers to each other? Similar to China's Grand Canal which connects the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. In the TL, west Africans have domesticated giant eland, so they have access to animal power when it comes to construction.
Also, would it be possible to connect some of Africa's great lakes together through canals to create a second "inner coast" system that could then be used for trade and transportation?
I have a sahelian state that spans the Senegal and Niger rivers and I was wondering if it's plausible that a permanent canal could be made to connect the two rivers to each other? Similar to China's Grand Canal which connects the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. In the TL, west Africans have domesticated giant eland, so they have access to animal power when it comes to construction.
Also, would it be possible to connect some of Africa's great lakes together through canals to create a second "inner coast" system that could then be used for trade and transportation?