The early african kingdoms were Songhai , Mali , and Ghana .The empire rose to power after ghana fell because of invading forces and internal disputes .This happened because the kingdom of Mali came to power . Those three kingdoms were small but they were successful in west africa . A great leader named Mansa Musa expanded the Empire after mansa Musa died his sons could not hold the empire together in the smaller states that they conquered broke off and then the empire fell apart .The emperor Mansa Musa made the pilgrimage to the city Mecca . The Mali Kingdom economy is really good they had a lot of gold .But how did the West African Kingdom rise to power . The kingdom rose to power after Ghana fell because of invading forces and internal