Arsène Francoeur Nganga
A groundbreaking historical investigation into one of the most significant yet overlooked chapters of the transatlantic slave trade. The Slave Trade in Loango Coast for the Colony of Surinam reveals how the Loango Coast-stretching from Cape Lopez to the mouth of the Congo River-became the largest embarkation site for enslaved Africans destined for Dutch colonies in the Americas.Drawing on extensive archival research and field investigations, historian Arsène Francoeur Nganga traces the vast caravan routes that brought captives from across Central Africa to the Atlantic coast, where Dutch merchants of the West India Company transported them to Suriname, the most prosperous plantation colony in 18th-century South America. The book examines the Kingdom of Loango’s complex trading networks, the role of Dutch merchants from the 1630s onward, and the cultural and linguistic survival of Bantu peoples in Suriname and French Guiana.This second edition includes expanded bibliography, new insights from the author’s work as Memory Tourism Consultant for the Republic of Congo, and contributions from leading scholars including Professor Emeritus Willem Frijhoff and Professor François Lumwamu. Essential reading for understanding Central African diaspora history, colonial economics, and the enduring legacy of the slave trade.
