 In the middle of the seventeenth century the four European competitors in the area were the Dutch West India Company, Danish Africa Company, Royal Africa Company and the Swedish Africa Company. The Dutch had been active in Athana and resident in neighboring Axim since 1642, the Swedish from Butre since 1650, the Danish since 1658 in Fort Carolusborg and the English from Kormantin. The European powers allied themselves with African states and chiefs in order to gain a sustainable dominance in the area.
