Mansa Musa is widely considered one of the richest individuals in history. But his personal wealth was not the only notable thing about him. He was a great builder, and many of his construction projects still stand today. He made Sankoré Madrasah a renowned center of learning. And under his reign, Timbuktu became a hub of trade, culture and Islam. All this in 25 years of rule.
What could Musa have accomplished had he lived longer?
Ideally he should send expeditions to Brazil where he can acquire maize and cassava to multiply his population back home. A stronger navy would also help the empire defend it’s coasts.
But for something less fantastic he should develop new trade commodities because gold is finite. Possible alternatives, coffee, ginger, guinea pepper. Much of the empire’s revenue was still slave trade. People in the tropics were selling slaves to buy the salt from the Sahara. The slaves were then sold to North Africa into the Islamic slave trade. These alternative products could replace that.
When Europeans showed up later they traded slaves with guns, textile, alcohol, and glass beads. The latter was so popular as jewelry they were often used to ballast slave ships on the way to west Africa. The Mali Empire could have produced their own glass, textiles and alcohol.
If the empire last long enough they could become a gunpowder empire like the Mughals.
