What powerful kingdom dominated West Africa from the sixth to the eleventh centuries?

Question

What powerful kingdom dominated West Africa from the sixth to the eleventh centuries?

Answer 1

Ghana Empire.  It was the first empire in West Africa.  Sources say it began in the eighth century.

Answer 2

www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/ghan/hd_ghan.h...

There is an article here titled “The Empires of the Western Sudan: Ghana Empire”

which states:

     “Ghana (Wagadu), the earliest known empire of the western Sudan, first entered the historical consciousness of North Africa near the end of the eighth century but probably originated long before…..Ghana ….posess(es)……sophisticated….

taxation, large armies and a monopoly over gold mines…..”

Commerce in the Ghanan Empire, as far back as the fifth century revolved around salt and gold. Soninkes founded this “Land of Gold” as the Ghanan Empire was dubbed by the natives.

In the eighth century, with the development of coinage, ,  trade between the Soninke and

Berbers over well-established routes across the territory by camel flourished.. Altho’

trade flourished between these two tribes, Soninkes rejected the Islamic principles of

the Berbers.

The exchange of gold for salt and salt for gold continued across the Desert of Noth Africa (gold)

to the Mediteranian (salt)  and back for three more centuries (from 8th-11th C) until Wagadu

and the Soninke kings’ dominance declined. From the 5th to 11th Century most of North

West Africa was Ghana, as the early Empire.