As local Mulatto mercenaries who grew to prominence as a consequence of the necessity to sell their fellow

community members as slaves, Walter Rodney referred to the West African coastal communities that sided with
the Europeans during the slave trade. The Europeans conned the mercenaries and lavished them with gifts in
order to assist them help the Europeans acquire additional slaves for commerce. These men planned wars and
kidnappings of their fellow Africans in quest of slaves to be traded for other items from Europe, like as
weaponry, out of a thirst for power and property. This started the slave trade, with a significant portion of it
bringing suffering to Africans and destroying nations like the Yoruba and Kongo-Angola kingdoms. Due to
their tiny size and lack of weapons, West African cultures were more at risk from slave raiders since they had no
method to protect themselves against mercenaries with the ability to gather able-bodied men and formidable
weapons like rifles.