How did the Orungu clans gain power through the slave trade?

The Orungu clans, located at Cape Lopez, gained significant power by establishing a kingdom that exerted control over the slave trade flowing through the mouths of the Ogooué River.12

During the period of extensive slave trade development between the 1760s and 1840s, interior groups transported captives—including individuals taken during warfare and those considered undesirable within their own societies—down the waterways to the coast. The Orungu clans leveraged their strategic position to manage this commerce, collecting enslaved people in temporary enclosures known as barracoons to await the arrival of European ships. This control over the transit of captives was the foundation of their political and economic influence in the region.12