Question: What was a consequence of the trans-Saharan trade networks on African empires in West Africa? As trade routes opened up access to landlocked West African empires, these empires became vulnerable to Europeans seeking labor for colonies in the Western Hemisphere. Islam spread from traders in North Africa to kingdoms in West Africa, like the Mali Empire The slave trade between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of Africa accelerated. Gold and salt in West Africa were overexploited and led to the fall of the West African