I personally believe so but that is not how our nation was created.
This probably does not help much but is my opinion.
Mansa Musa establish Mali as a center of Muslim culture because:
C. He brought Muslim scholars, artists, and teachers to work in Mali.
He brought architects, merchants and scholars from other territories; and also embarked on a large building program, building universities, markets, libraries and mosques, establishing Mali as a reference of culture.
It actually had little to do with European colonial possessions overseas.
