West African Elite

Young Ghanan women from wealthy families in a park.
What indicates that these women come from extremely wealthy families?

Answers:

• imported shoes;
• imported purses;
• expensive Kente cloth, locally-woven, for their skirts -- often with gold threads;
• gold necklaces and bracelets.

Optional: Read how the late President Félix Houphouët-Boigny spent his people's money building Yamoussoukro, the official capital of the Ivory Coast since 1983.

Created by Ingolf Vogeler on 1 February 1996; last revised on 14 November 2000.