To those who are familiar with African history. This guy gives his opinion on what caused some of Africa's pre-colonial empires and kingdoms to go into decline.
He touched on the Mali empire some. That empire and the Luba empire were able to better handle the diversity of their area. It seems to come down to how flexible the leaders are and of their governing system. Current day African leaders can learn from the Mali and Luba empires. "The Luba empire's expansion was due to its development of a form of government that was durable enough to withstand the disruptions of succession disputes and flexible enough to incorporate foreign leaders and governments. Based on twin principles of sacred kingship (balopwe) and rule by council, the Luba model of statecraft was adopted by the Lunda and spread throughout the region that is today northern Angola, northwestern Zambia, and southern Democratic Republic of Congo." Kingdom of Luba - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "At its peak, the Mali Empire extended across West Africa to the Atlantic Ocean and incorporated an estimated 40 to 50 million people. The administration of such an enormous territory was formidable and relied on the establishment of a government sensitive to the diversity of the land, population and cultures and accepting of the indigenous rulers and their customs. What distinguished the empires of West Africa, particularly Mali and later Songhay, was their ability to centralize political and military power while allowing the local rulers to maintain their identities along side Islam..." Mali Empire and Djenne Figures
