Ancient Ties of the Arab World and Africa

Many West African tribes have Arab origins including the Fulani, Mandinka, Yoruba, Hausa and Wolof tribes. In fact before European colonization, the region of North West Africa and the Middle East was one area with Arabic as the official language. The Fulani language was written using Arabic letters before the introduction of the roman alphabet. Another little known fact is that the appearance of the original Arabs more closely resemble that of the above mentioned tribes. Pictured is a painting entitled “Aisha” by Noe Two with the digital design by aKa, which is featured at the Hip Hop Exposition in the Arab World Institute in Paris.