Keta

Keta grew on the Ewe coast as a settlement of the Anlo people. Traditions trace the Anlo migration through Tado and Notsie, and remember Keta as a fishing village founded by men from Anloga. By the eighteenth century its position made it a meeting place for inland traders and Europeans seeking captives and other goods.

Anlo's control of the lower Volta brought it into conflict with the Danes and their African allies. After Anlo was defeated in 1784, a peace treaty allowed Denmark to build Fort Prinzenstein at Keta and pass through Anlo territory. The Danes sought to monopolise trade, but the authority of the fort's commandant extended little beyond the range of its guns. Anlo merchants continued to deal with others, and the trade in enslaved people persisted despite Danish prohibition in 1803.