The Asante Kingdom’s Great Road System || All Roads Leads to Kumasi

The history of wheeled transport goes back to the African kingdoms of Kmt, Kush, Nubia, Aksum, Dahomey, etc., as well as the absence of wheels in the road-building kingdom of Asante. It is important to note that the wheel was present in Africa, especially in ancient Kmt, in ancient Nubia, in ancient Kush, and in ancient Aksum. You see on the walls in Kmt and Nubia the representations of wheeled chariots and wagons to the extensive use and depictions of chariots in Kmt, Nubia, and Kushite warfare. Many parts of Africa were familiar with the wheel since antiquity.

One particulary notable African society that was familiar with the wheel was the kingdom of Asante in what is now Ghana. Considering Asante's extensive well built road system and network, it may on first sight appear to be rather surprising that Asante didn't adopt the use of wheeled transport. It has been shown that Asante's road users would not have seen any significant improvements in travel speed had they adopted wheeled transport.

The cost of wheeled transport greatly outweighed the returns in the Asante Kingdom.

https://www.africanhistoryextr....a.com/p/roads-and-wh (Thanks to @Malami_Naka of Abibitumi.com)

The history of wheeled transport goes back to the African kingdoms of Kmt, Kush, Nubia, Aksum, Dahomey, etc., as well as the absence of wheels in the road-building kingdom of Asante. It is important to note that the wheel was present in Africa, especially in ancient Kmt, in ancient Nubia, in ancient Kush, and in ancient Aksum. You see on the walls in Kmt and Nubia the representations of wheeled chariots and wagons to the extensive use and depictions of chariots in Kmt, Nubia, and Kushite warfare. Many parts of Africa were familiar with the wheel since antiquity.

One particulary notable African society that was familiar with the wheel was the kingdom of Asante in what is now Ghana. Considering Asante's extensive well built road system and network, it may on first sight appear to be rather surprising that Asante didn't adopt the use of wheeled transport. It has been shown that Asante's road users would not have seen any significant improvements in travel speed had they adopted wheeled transport.

The cost of wheeled transport greatly outweighed the returns in the Asante Kingdom.

https://www.africanhistoryextr........a.com/p/roads-an (Thanks to @Malami_Naka of Abibitumi.com)

The cost of wheeled transport greatly outweighed the returns.

The Asante Kingdom did not utilize wheeled transport, despite being in contact with Dahomey where the use of wheeled vehicles were relatively common, and with the later with Europeans at the coast, for whom wheel technology was becoming increasingly important.

Asante kingdom did not adopt wheeled transport despite posessing an extensive road network and system.
It has been shown that Asante's road users would not have seen any significant improvements in travel speed had they adopted wheeled transport.

The cost of wheeled transport greatly outweighed the returns.

https://www.africanhistoryextr....a.com/p/roads-and-wh (Thanks to @Malami_Naka of Abibitumi.com)

The great roads of the Asante were "conduits of authority" beginning at the capital, Kumasi, and ending at the frontier. The Asante road system radiated out of Kumasi - the Asante capital, and was central to Asante expansion, the empire followed the road rather than the road system following the empire's expansion, but also importantly, these roads augmented the old established trade routes connecting the Asante capital Kumasi to the commercial cities of west Africa, ie: Bonduku, Daboya, Yendi to its north -which would then meet the caravan routes to Jenne, Timbuktu and Katsina; and to its south, the great roads linked Kumasi to the coastal ports such as Accra and Elmina thus joining the maritime routes terminating in Europe and the Americas.

The state official in the Asante Kingdom in charge of maintaining highways was the “akwanmofohene”, this roads minister was authorized to make payments to laborers who cleared the roads and to fine those committing nuisances (such as highway robberies) revenues from such amounted to 6,750 ounces of gold. Another state official was the “nkwansrafo”, who headed the highway police, garrisoned control points on the routes close to the frontiers of the kingdom, monitored the flow of commodities and taking custom duties.

https://www.africanhistoryextr....a.com/p/roads-and-wh
(Thanks to @Malami_Naka of Abibitumi.com)