Gabon Coast

The Gabon coast faces the Gulf of Guinea, where the broad estuary of the Komo opens into the Atlantic. Mpongwe communities occupied the estuary when Portuguese sailors reached the coast in the fifteenth century. The estuary became a meeting place between visiting ships and African merchants whose connections extended inland. Dutch traders arrived at the end of the sixteenth century, developing commerce at the Gabon estuary as well as Cape Lopez farther south. Coastal brokers obtained ivory, timber and wax from neighbouring peoples and captives from farther inland, exchanging them for imported goods. Their control of the passage between ships and interior suppliers made them powerful figures in the coastal trade.