Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The Asante were . . . centered on modern day Togo, Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), and southern Ghana. They rose to prominence under Osei Tutu . . . in the 1670s. After persuading other small states to join him, he . . . Was subsequently crowned Asantehene, or King of the Asante. Under his kingship, the Asante kingdom trebled in size and gained outlets to the sea. The Asante thereafter took an active part in developing the thriving slave trade, forcibly impressing native Africans from neighboring areas and dealing with Arab traders from the interior. The Asante licensed European slave factories on the coast, such as Elmina, where slaves were assembled before embarkation on the notorious Middle Passage to the Americas earning the region the name the Slave Coast. In addition to the immense fortunes accumulated by the Asante rulers and local chiefs, they also received firearms from the Europeans in payment for slaves, which enabled them to extend their lands further. The Asante kingdom reached its greatest extent around 1750. It finally broke up during wars with the British after Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1808."