what are the major cultural influences on the sahel region
Koumbi Saleh. For centuries, the Sahel boasted some of Africa's most influential civilizations. Anarrow band of semi-arid land south of the Sahara, the Sahel attracted both Arabs looking for gold from Sudan and Europeans looking for slaves from West Africa.The two influences merged with native ones, creating a culturally complex area.nstead of sticking to the land, rural workers are now heading for the cities. Dakar (Senegal), Ougadougou (Burkina Faso), Niamey (Niger) and Bamako (Mali) now hold about 25 percent of the Sahel's population and each year grow by another five percent.