Going for Gold: Mansa Musa’s Royal Court, 1323-1336

APPROXIMATE COMMITTEE SIZE: 25 delegates

In the fourteenth century, The Mali Kingdom was one of the richest kingdoms in Africa, and it was ruled by Mansa Musa from 1312 to 1327. During his reign, Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca that brought him through Egypt in order to establish himself and Mali as extremely wealthy and powerful on the global stage. During the trip, he gave out copious amounts of gold to people and cities he encountered, skyrocketing his public image but ultimately crashing Egyptian economies for over a decade. While in Egypt, Mansa Musa met with the Egyptian Sultan to display his enormous wealth and establish Egypt as an ally to his kingdom. Upon returning from Mecca, Mansa Musa worked to invest in the cities of his kingdom, namely Gao and Timbuktu. He established large Mosques, universities, and public buildings while leveraging his global status to bring architects and scholars from around the world to Mali. Under his leadership, the Kingdom of Mali reached its greatest extent of success.

In this committee, delegates must navigate a royal court and an empire at a moment of unprecedented wealth and opportunity. With the eyes of the Islamic world turned toward Mali, delegates must balance internal development, diplomatic strategy, and regional stability while contending with emerging crises that threaten to unravel the empire’s gains.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER

Establishing Global Image

Relationship with Egypt

Investing in Mali’s Cities

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Grapple with the diplomatic challenges of forging alliances between empires with differing strategic interests, cultural values, and economic needs.

• Examine the cultural impact of Mansa Musa’s reign, including how architecture, education, and scholarship were used to elevate Mali’s status as a center of global influence.

• Analyze the opportunities and risks of sudden economic growth, especially how wealth, when unevenly distributed, can lead to internal instability and tension.

About the Chair

Namir Pasha is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Class of 2027, majoring in Global Business and minoring in Russian. Namir is originally from Hong Kong. Outside of his school and extracurricular work, you will usually find Namir either watching/playing Basketball or listening to a podcast discussing the sport. Last year, Namir served as the Under-Secretary-General (USG) of the NAIMUN Historical Organ. This year-long experience truly opened Namir’s eyes to the amount of work and dedication that goes into creating a substantive Model UN committee. Most importantly, Namir witnessed just what a logistical behemoth organizing a conference as large as NAIMUN is. With this past Model UN experience, Namir will work to ensure that this committee is not only substantively enriching and educational but also exciting and entertaining. Namir is looking forward to seeing you all at NAIMUN!

About the Crisis manager

Mia Abatecola is a member of the Walsh School of Foreign Service’s class of 2026, majoring in International Politics and minoring in Justice and Peace Studies. She is from Fort Myers, Florida and had never seen snow before attending Georgetown. This will be Mia’s fourth and final NAIMUN, having served as the Crisis Manager for both the Wonder Women: The Dahomey Amazons committee at NAIMUN LXII and the Heroines of the Mexican Revolution committee at NAIMUN LXI, as well as a Crisis Analyst for the Kosovo Independence committee at NAIMUN LX. At Georgetown, Mia is involved with Students for Prison Justice and the Georgetown Running Club, and also spent a semester studying abroad in Prague. She is excited to meet you all and honored to serve as the Crisis Manager of this committee for her last NAIMUN!