It is held sacred by the Africans of the Transvaal. In Nigeria, the pod is used as camel food. The gum that exudes spontaneously from the trunk is sometimes collected like gum arabic. One writer even questions its value for fuel wood. Masai use it as the soft flat wood upon which the firestick is twirled to make fire.
Wood is used for canoes, mortars, and pestles.
The bark is pounded in Nigeria and used as a packing material on pack animals. Ashes of the wood are used in making soap and as a depilatory and tanning agent for hides. Pods and foliage are highly regarded as livestock fodder. Rhodesians use the pods to stupefy fish. Humans eat the boiled seeds in times of scarcity in Rhodesia.