Bull market or bear market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bull market or bear market - Essay Example Additionally, as the national income increases, so is the demand for stock is the stock market. Over the next two years, earnings by companies will increase substantially as the demand for goods and services within US increases. The rate of interest in US is low, which results in an increase in the value of stock. In other words, the rate of interest and the prices of stock have a direct relationship (Murphy 18). When the rates of interest are low, the earnings from bonds decreases, and the stock bec0mes more attractive compared to bonds. Another reason why there is a bull stock market is that many companies have fully recovered from the 2008 global financial crisis and are buying back their stock. The increase in the demand for stock grows the prices for the stock. As the number of companies that have fully recovered increases, so is the demand for the stock, thus the increase in their

Life Cycle Stages Essay Example for Free

Life Cycle Stages Essay There are four stages in the financial life cycle of an individual. The accumulation, saving, pre-retirement and retirement stages. Judging from the financial ratios of Winston and Yvonne, we concluded that Winston and Yvonne are in stage 2: the savings stage of the financial life cycle phase. This stage of the life cycle is usually characterized by the increase of assets, net worth and the decline in the use of debts, as by this stage Winston and Yvonne have already accumulated more assets over the years and would seek to protect their wealth and priorities and at the same time seek to be more risk adverse than before. People in this stage are usually concerned in saving for the future like children’s education, retirement etc. As the savings Ratio can be easily explained by the amount of money a person saves as a percentage of their total income. The level of savings as a percentage of Winstons and Yvonnes income is 60.41% as calculated is expected of the couple in their mid 30s falling in this stage of the life cycle as it portrayed high savings planning for the future of their children’s education. In the savings stage of the life cycle, we could expect an increase in net worth and assets as those had been accumulated before reaching conservation phases in that cycle. The increase in assets meant that Winston and Yvonne have a relatively high net worth as calculated at 74.51%. As Winston and Yvonne have a relatively high net worth ratio, their financial solvency is lower as most of their funds are being tied up with their fixed assets and their high net worth ratio also showed that their investments and commitments are being funded by debts and trade payables that are not proportionate. Winston and Yvonne might also face problems such as liquidity problems as their high ratio meant that they do not have immediate access to their cash. Therefore any decline in value of their investments or in any aspect that is relevant to their assets would cause them to have the inability to pay back their debt, thus lead to bankruptcy. Winston and Yvonne should seek to lower their net worth ratio by diversifying their funds in lesser fixed assets like property, home contents and education funds as lowering the ratio of their net worth would help them have more f inancial flexibility and ability to meet their financial payment obligations. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/interpret-assetstonetworth-ratios-57281.html. http://www.accountingtools.com/net-worth-ratio. As Winston and Yvonne are in their wealth protection phase, we explained that there would be an indication of a high net worth and a decrease in the use of debts. The debt Service ratio is the monthly debt commitments in comparison to total income and expressed in a percentage. In other words it is the ratio of the ability to repay loans over a period of time. If a debt service ratio is too high it would mean that one is too highly leveraged and has a high amount of loan and in the long run might run into difficulties in repaying off the loan commitment in the future. In this stage we expected financial prudence and a high risk adversity. The low debt service ratio of Winston and Yvonne at 14.21% indicated the low dependability on debt and increases their ability to service their debt, reducing the risk of them not being able to continue going in the long run. This could be expected of them as they are seeking to save for the future and make sure that they are able to service their l iabilities in the long run and not exhausted halfway through by limiting their commitments and slowly getting a debt free approach when it comes to their retirement. http://www.e-conomic.co.uk/accountingsystem/glossary/debt-ratio.

Risks And Benefits Of International Trade Economics Essay

Risks And Benefits Of International Trade Economics Essay Political environment, which is more important especially large international business, requires high investment. More consumers sought after more goods, more service and besides last pay back time. The political systems have two types namely; democracy and totalitarianism. Economic environment, which is required in home country, host country and world economics, are supporting or objection for international business and relation to suppliers. Economic growth affects on politics social and lows, the found political system and situation politics in country, and the world has direct affects on economic and business. Social and culture are foundation of living and work for humans, they has an impact on characteristic to work and every day life. For lows, it is convention for country activities including economic activities and business. Therefore economics, political, social and lows are closely bound in terms of relationship. Technology environment refers to new knowledge factor in the world such as sciences or engineering and including strategic management because marketing competition enforce each country to invent new knowledge or know-how benefit for its own business development. Each country that has new knowledge must create new products; have low capital and high efficiency in order to keep pace with the international competitors and to respond the customers needs in the international market. When the country enters into international business, they must encounter risks in international business, which can be listed as four categories as following; Country risk is associated with intervening of the government, protectionism, trading and investing barriers, social disturbance and instability of politics, economic malfunction and unorganised, unsatisfied of foreign companies in legal sanction, bureaucry, managerial postponements and bribery, and deficient legal acts for trespassing property rights. Commercial risk is correlated to inability of partner, management failures, timing factor, competitive intensity and poser execution of strategy. Currency (Financial) risk is related to currency exposure, asset valuation, foreign taxation, inflationary and transfer pricing. Cross-cultural risk is consisted of cultural differences, negotiation strategies and ethics. The four types of international business risks are omnipresent; the firm may encounter them continuously. When these risks cannot be simply avoided, they can be efficiently anticipated and managed by preparing to confront the risks mentioned above. The important two types of focal firms in international business: the multinational enterprise (MNE); and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). The multinational enterprise refers to a huge company, which possesses plentiful assets, manages numbers of business activities by communicating through a network of subsidiary companies settled worldwide. While MNEs are among the leading participants, international business is not the domain of large, resourceful firms alone. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are participated in the business as well. Overall this step to international business, it is significant to study international business to every parts, such as global economic and interconnectedness, contributor to national economic well-being, a competitive advantage for the company to sustain a competitive advantage in the necessary skills, knowledge, competence and etc. According to Dr. B. Warner, the determinants of national competitive advantage can be divided into four determinants namely, the factor conditions; demand conditions; related supporting industries; and structure of firms and rivalry. The factor conditions are used in various ways by means of upholding the economic competitiveness among business and country. In order to advance the employees ability in working with efficiency and handling the higher-tech goods, the employees are trained and educated according to their factor conditions. Another way to use the factor conditions as a determinant of national competitive advantage is that the business must provide more funds in researching or buying the high-tech discoveries and other improved efficient appliances that may facilitate better products and services in order to compete with opponents (Warner). Secondly, the demand conditions is a significant determinant of national competitive advantage, for it assists in upholding the maintenance of economic effectiveness and it empowers the business to possess the well-built local market, which eventually pave the company better way in advancing the goods and services quality for the international market. Warner suggest an example to illustrate this point that French customers give the reasonable feedbacks to the local wine makers in order to help them improving their wine-making for selling world-wide. Furthermore, Warner remarks that related and supporting industries are important because of its benefits in providing low-cost inputs and offering information concerning on the industry environmental issues and changes that support MNEs. To illustrate this point, it is noteworthy to look upon example given by Warner Italian tiles companies are informed continuously by their suppliers who notify them about any technological changes, the inputs and developments of factors in the industry. Besides the determinants mentioned above, the firm strategy is remarkable determinants for those companies that eager to maintain the economic competitiveness. The firm strategy smoothes the progress of a company catching up the competitors game, then the company knows how to fight and how to activate marketing plan. Making the decisions with well-organized firm strategy enable the company to empower its economical reliable. Take company competitiveness in the German chemical industry as an example. A particular simple structure may complete a firms requirement, whereas the same simple structure may fail to answer another firms needs, which concerns on the complexity of particular design. As for the German firms, for instance, they are hierarchically organized to make them appropriate for personnels needs. In addition, the rivalry of firm should not been overlooked because of its important in uplifting the firms to take as much chance in sharpening their skills and eventually turning out to be even more challenging to compete among the international business. Japanese car manufacturers are the case that Warner provides in his article. The Japanese car manufactures increasingly develop its economic competitiveness among the international businesses and happen to be the unignorable competitor, because their economical development progressively rises upon those car manufacturers in the U.S. and in Europe. In conclusion, it is remarkable for those companies who are able to take the challenge in encountering the international business risks. As mentioned above, the four determinants are both significant and correlated. Moreover, these determinants have particular impacts on others determinants and vice versa. In short, the firms rivalry is affected by the demand conditions, and the number and type of related and supporting industries are impacted by the factor conditions. References: Cavusgil, T. Knight, G. and Riesenberger, J.(2007) International Business: Strategy, Management and the New Realities. New Jersey: Pearson prentice hill. Katsioloudes, Marios I. and Hadjidakis, Spyros. International Business: A Global Perspective. Oxford: Elsevier, 2007. Kuntonbute, C. Assoc. Prof., Ph.D. (2006) International Business Administration. (3th edition), Chulalongkorn University Bangkok Press, Chulalongkorn Publishing. Hill, C. International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. (international Edition), New York, NY: McGRAW-HILL, 2007. Warner, B., Ph.D. International Business and Policy: Seminar Two.

The Road to Happiness - Original Writing :: Happiness Essays

My name is Bob Thomas. My life has been one hell of a roller coaster, with enough ups and downs to make anyone nauseas. I guess I shouldn’t complain, because that is a common lifestyle for most people. It all started when I was a teenager and it is a familiar fact that every teenager has their fair amount of rows, with there parents. However, one argument was just one to many for me. It was actually quite pathetic; I look back and laugh at what I was arguing about. This sounds silly but I was quarrelling, with my mum, on whether I could wear my suede boots to school. It all ended up with me storming out of the door saying that I was deprived of my freedom and opinion. I could remember hearing my dad in the background, shouting at the top of his lungs, that I shouldn’t dare step foot out of the house. But I did. I was confused and angry, so I just wanted to be as far away from home as possible. Using the money I had on me, I took a train to London without even realizing or noticing how dim-witted I was being. At that point all I wanted to see was that lousy excuse for a mother, dead. The area I picked in London was an awful mistake. I was living on the streets with no money, no job, nothing. And to add to that, these unpleasant people would come up to me and stare. And then there were the occasional perverts hanging around, but I kept myself hidden when I saw them lurking about. I tried to make life work, by scavenging for anything I could get my hands on. I couldn’t think of asking my parents for help, it was just out of the question. I had been gone to long, I could imagine the angry looks on their faces, describing the pain I had put them through. What if they didn’t even want me back? They seemed quite content with my sister. They had probably forgotten

I Never Worry About the Future Essay

Albert Einstein Some people are trying to live a carefree life, they say that they ‘’go with the flow’’ and are not preoccupied with the future. Others think about tomorrow and the day after it so much they are constantly under stress. So which is better, to worry or not to worry about the days which are ahead of us? Planning our days in advanced is somehow necessary these days. Our world is spinning so fast that one has to know what he is doing or he ends up doing nothing. Good example of that is choosing which school or even more important, which university to enrol in. When doing that we have to consider our interests as well as which occupations can our future degree provide us. When enrolled into a school we have to study in order to have good grades or we just might not end up having expected degree and doing the job we wanted. Therefore thinking about future is good when it keeps us trying hard to achieve our goals. On the other hand being concerned about what might happen has bad affects on our health and attitude. Few days before the exam of which results may have an impact on their future, some people are so worried that their immune system does not function as it should and they become ill. What is more, stress can also enable their abilities to learn and concentrate. And last but not least because of constantly worrying those people can express their frustrations with yelling on others and their relationship with them can get worse. To conclude I would like to state that thinking and worrying about the future is something that we all do, some less, others more. The important thing is that worries do not affect on our lives so much that we cannot enjoy the moment we are living in but are still present enough to force us try and make our dreams come true.

Religion Clause in Amend. essays

Religion Clause in Amend. essays Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion to another. It enforces the "separation of church and state". The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person's practice of their religion. In determining weather the a governmental practice is violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause, the Courts have developed the "Lemon Test." The Lemon Test organized in the Court's 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman, is a three-pronged inquiry: 1) Does the challenged legislation or activities have a legitimate secular purpose? 2) Does the legislation or activity have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion? and 3) Does the legislation or activity excessively entangle government with religion? Several cases that demonstrate the use of the Lemon Test are Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District argued February 24, 1993 Decided June 18, 1993. The issued raised was whether the State may refuse to pay for a deaf child's sign language interpreter in a parochial school. The school district has successfully argued in the U.S. District Court and in the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit) that permitting a government-funded interpreter to work in a Catholic school would have the primary effect of advancing religion by constituting public aid to a religious institution, which violates the effects prong of the Lemon test. It was also held that paying for the sign language interpreter in a Catholic school would create, in the eyes of Zobrest' ...

Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Sample

Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Sample Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Example Mali Empire in Africa History Essay Example Looking at Africa today one is likely to believe that civilization, governance and trade are new concepts introduced probably in the late 19th with the advent of colonialism. Africa was the most underdeveloped region in the world. In terms of civilization, though they have made progress in the use of technology especially mobile phones, the other sectors remain largely infant or nonexistent. In the 21st century the largest income earner and highest contributor to the GDP of most African economies remains to be agriculture. These are centuries after the agrarian revolution. Trade in most African countries is restricted to their former colonial masters with hardly any interstate trade going on. As for governance most African countries are young democracies, some of them were suffering from cruel dictatorship and others locked in never ending civil wars. The current situation is not a true representation of the African continent before the 15th century. On the contrary historical and ar chaeological evidence present a totally different picture. Medieval Africa was almost at par with the rest of the world as far as civilization is concerned. There existed many African Kingdoms and Empires that were governed properly complete with ministries and trade and foreign policies. These empires often formed as a result of military conquest, traded with other empires in Africa and also out of Africa with people in continents like Asia; they traded with Arabs and Chinese people and Europe with the Spaniards and the Portuguese. These empires were at the forefront of developing and using technology and their citizens lived quality lives for that period of time. This paper studies the rise and fall of the empires that thrived on the western coast of Africa before the 15th with a specific focus on the Mali Empire. The work discusses the factors that led to the rise of Mali Empire taking into account economical, geographical and political factors. It also examines how the above asp ects led to the decline and eventual collapse of the Mali Empire. Brief History of Early Kingdoms in Africa In medieval Africa, most people were either farmers, hunters and gatherers or livestock keepers. Their economic activities dictated where they settled. For instance, farmers settled in area with fertile lands and adequate water supply either through rainfall or close to water bodies such as ocean and lakes. Hunters and gatherers settled in areas near forests or grasslands where wild animals could be found easily. The herders preferred grasslands with adequate pasture for their animals. Economic activities were determined by the people’s tribes. Hence individuals of one tribe would settle together in an area, which favored their economic activity. As people settled, their numbers increased due to reproduction and often they would fight for the available resources. As a result of these conflicts, they needed someone to mediate and solve them. This led to the development of governance (McKissack, 1994: 190). They thus selected a person, in most cases the individual was a religiou s leader to mediate and gradually this person became the political chief. As people believed the religious gifts were hereditary, often the sibling of the religious persona would succeed him as a leader of the people. These tiny organizations normally grew in size to form kingdoms with kings and even a council of elders to advise the king in the governing of the people. They would further be divided into chiefdoms headed by chiefs who were the king’s representatives in the chiefdoms. It was possible to find many such kingdoms existing concurrently in an area, living as neighbors and intermarrying and even trading (Mann, 1996: 67). Over time one of the kings may develop a larger, more organized army whose military power exceeded those of the other kingdoms. Such a king would engage military warfare against his neighbors conquering them. In so doing he would force the other kings to pay allegiance to him; they would continue to rule their kingdoms as before, only this time they had to pay a fixed amount of revenue to him (McBrewster 85). The revenue came from the products produced in the kingdoms. The king of the strong kingdom hence merged a number of small kingdoms to form an empire and he became an emperor. Most empires then continued with the expansion by acquiring land and people from other kingdoms and through economic activities such as trade they grew in might. Most empires collapsed when due to weak governance or civil strife the individual kingdoms fought and achieved their independence. Many such kingdoms existed in Africa from the north to the south and to the east and west. To the east, kingdoms suc h as the Buganda kingdom flourished, the south had kingdoms such as the Zimbabwe Kingdom and the west had several great kingdoms including; Ghana, Mali and Songhai Kingdoms. The Mali Kingdom followed the above pattern and its rise and fall is discussed below. The Rise of the Mali Kingdom The rise of the Mali Kingdom was facilitated by a number of factors, which cut across all sectors ranging from geographical, political and economic factors. Geographical factors that led to the rise of the Mali Kingdom Mali had several geographical advantages over Ghana and the other kingdoms that enabled it to grow. First its proximity to the river Niger improved its transport system. This is as with the river, using canoes they were able to move not only more goods but also bulky ware that they would not have been able to if they had relied on then available transport means of horses, donkeys and oxen. The river also increased the pace of their transportation as it is faster that the beasts of burden used for those purposes. Transporting more goods and at a faster rate increased the volume of their trade and hence the capital available to them for expansion enabling it to rise as an empire. Another geographical position that enabled Mali to rise as an empire was its location on the lower banks of river Niger. The latter flooded periodically depositing fertile silt its banks. The silt was fertile facilitating the growth of crops. The river also provided water for the crops planted and hence the Mali Kingdom had adequate food supply. They also traded in food crops. With adequate food the empire could focus on other aspects of growth as they were spared of the severe bangs of hunger leading to starvation that affected the other kingdoms (Conrad, 2005: 93). Mali Kingdom unlike Ghana had actual gold mines in the Kingdom at Bumbuk and Bure. Hence increases its revenue from gold not just from transporting and facilitating its trade but also from the actual exploitation through selling of the gold that they mined. This helped them develop a stronger economy facilitating its rise. The trade routes for the Trans Saharan trade shifted eastwards and hence they fell in the Mali Kingdom. This leads to the rise of Mali as the empire, thus gaining a lot of revenue from the trade through the taxation of the traders. Revenue is important as it was used to support and fund the military and the royalty governing the empire enabling it to conquer more regions and hence rise. Political factors that led to the rise of the Mali Empire Several political factors led to the rise of Mali as an empire. The key among them includes the collapse of the Ghana Kingdom. When the Ghana kingdom collapsed, the individual kingdoms attained their independence and Mali was one of them. Together the Kingdoms were unassailable and strong but on their own they were weak and could easily be captured. When Mali gathered a sizeable army and the support of a few of its neighbors it became the strongest among the weak Kingdoms and was hence able to conquer them to submission thereby leading to its growth as an empire. If the Kingdom of Ghana had not collapsed then Mali would not have risen as an empire (Mann, 1996: 118). Another political factor that led to the rise of Mali as a Kingdom was the cruel leadership of Somanguru. The latter had ceased power upon the collapse of the Ghana Kingdom. He was cruel and ruled in a tyrannical manner killing people carelessly. When Sundiata a Mandinka prince was approached he accepted to rule the military and he did so successfully winning the battle of Kirina (McKissack.1994:77). That act united several kingdoms to the upper banks of the Niger River, which later became the Mali Empire. Hence that act led to the rise of the Mali. The governance of Mali Kingdom also led to its growth. This is so because under the Mansa (emperor) Sundiata came up with an efficient organizational structure that facilitated proper governance hence leading to Mali’s rise. Under this structure, the kings that had sworn allegiance to him and his descendants were appointed as commanders, they ruled their own kingdoms just as before, but this time they paid tribute to the empire. He also established a parliament like organization. This organization called the Gabra decided on the cases and the rules for the empire (McKissack, 1994: 91). He also initiated land reforms in that he divided land portions ensuring people owned land within the empire. He came up with documentation that regulated the interrelationships between people. This effectively reduced the conflicts in the region. Some other reforms initiated by Sundiata included proper and humane treatment of slaves and the prisoners in the kingdom. These led to the rise of the kingdom. Another emperor Mansa Musa also effected political changes that facilitated the rise of Mali Kingdom to reach its peak. Musa made political changes such as dividing the entire into administrative units that can be liked to provinces. He then appointed rulers for these provinces. The latter were further broken down to towns ruled by the equivalent of today’s mayors who were called â€Å"mochrif† (Conrad, 2005: 174) . Mansa Musa also led to the rise of the empire by expanding its territories far into the west. He did this by establishing a huge well trained army, which was used to expand the territory of the empire. It was also used for peace keeping in that whenever there was a rebellion in any of the small kingdoms, the army would be sent to quell it hence facilitating the rise of the Mali Empire. The army also facilitated trade by protecting the traders as they engaged in the trade and as they traded. Another political factor that led to the rise of the Mali Empire was the fact that the kingship was hereditary. Upon the death of one king, succession disputes were reduced by the fact that people knew his heir to the throne. This prevented power vacuums as people tried to choose a new leader. Smooth transition of power was a key factor in facilitating the prosperity of the nation. Except if a few cases where the heirs were overthrown. All the above factors led to the rise of the Mali Empire (McBr ewster, 2009: 29). Economic factors that led to the rise of the Mali Empire The Mali Kingdom like the other kingdoms in West Africa, though established by military conquest, thrived on trade. Therefore, economic factors played a big role in their rise and subsequent falls. In the Mali Kingdom the economic aspects that led to its rise include presence of such minerals as gold, copper and salt. Mali Empire has three gold mines within its borders. These facilitated the trade in gold. It improved the gold trade of the Mali Empire beyond that of Ghana Kingdom. The Empire also had other minerals such as bronze and copper. The latter was mined and traded in Takedda (Conrad, 2005: 245). Agriculture is another economic activity that enabled Mali to flourish. Through it Mali was able to trade in agricultural products like rice. The Niger River economically facilitated the growth of Mali, thus helping people transport goods along the trading routes that it passed through. Another economic factor leading to the growth of Mali kingdom was its location along the trade routes. Some of Mali’s major towns were located conveniently along the trade routes enabling them and hence the empire to grow. For instance, Taghaza town where people traded in salt. In Takedda people exchanged copper for gold. The government also had effective economic policies that led to the rise of the Mali Empire. The policies included taxation. The government taxed all the people trading in the Empire as well as ones who brought gold into the empire. This provided them with adequate funds to properly run the empire hence facilitating its growth (Mann, 1996: 105). The government intervened economically to stimulate the growth of the empire through the implementation of the monetary policy. This is evident that the empire or the place was the only custodian of gold. They received all mined gold and exchanged it for gold dust. This action prevented inflation and hence led to the rise of the Mali Empire, which had a good foreign policy, especially during the reign of Mansa Musa (McKissack, 1994: 87). This was because when he made the pilgrimage to mecca passing across Egypt and other countries he displayed his affluence and generosity attracting a lot of people. He made the rest of the world realize the existence of Mali and came to trade with them, thus resulting to high volumes of trade. He also personally brought scholars and doctors among other experts from around the world revolutionizing Timbuktu into a learning town. This attracted a lot of visitors, especially from North Africa and Asia, and hence improved the revenue of the country leadi ng to its rise. During Mansa Musa’s reign, Mali reached its peak; it was at its largest size about one point two million square kilometers. It had the largest trade volume and military strength. The Fall of Mali Empire Just like the Ghana Kingdom before it and The Songhai Empire after it, the Mali Empire fell, though it was gradual. Just like the rise, the fall of the Mali Empire is attributable to economic, geographical and political factors. The main political aspect leading to the collapse of the Mali Empire was succession. Upon the death of Mansa Musa the empire lacked a strong leader (McKissack, 1994: 74). His sons fought over the succession, since each of them desired to be the ruler. As a result, they fragmented the kingdom into smaller kingdoms. The latter also wanted their freedom as they desire to participate in the trading of gold and salt and to reap direct benefits. They thus revolted. Without an organized strong army to quell the rebellion, they succeeded in declaring and establishing their independence. Some of this Kingdoms such as the Songhai actually acquired enough military strength to conquer towns in the original Mali kingdom such as Goa and Timbuktu. Aside from political facto rs, economic and geographical ones also led to the fall of the Mali Empire (McBrewster, 2009: 109). New goldmines were discovered to the east and the trade shifted eastwards. As the economic base of the Mali Empire was gold, the shift hurt the economy leading to the eventual fall and final collapse of the Mali Kingdom. Conclusion The Mali Empire lasted several centuries. It was on an upward trajectory from the early eleventh century to the late 15th when its fall began. Factors such as good governance, favorable economic conditions and proper geographical location led to its rise. Its fall was caused by poor governance and a change in economic patterns. It had a structure similar to those of the other West African Kingdoms with an Emperor at the head and kings at the provincial level. At its peak it was the second largest empire in the whole world and was a model of civilization. Through the use of iron in the daily lives for purposes such as farming and fighting (spears) it achieved the success that had never been attained before. Its collapse however, was as a result of majorly poor governance. From this paper we can learn that authority is the key ingredient to a successful nation. Despite examples from Mali and Ghana subsequent Kingdoms in West Africa also fell as a result of poor governance and greed for power. Even in the 21st century African countries continue suffering from poor governance.