I despise your Imperialist mentality.... J/K Actually I enjoyed reading your post.

Couple of things about Africa. While North Africa (esp. Timbuktu and Arguin) is a nice jewel for any power's tiara, it seems that anytime I move in down there, no other empire wants to come and take it from me. Gets kind of lonely.

Due to the above phenomenon, western North Africa, at least, can with proper management be cultivated into that promised land of the strategy gamer: the Safe, Economically Lucrative Area.

One possible downside is the micromanagemet of heretics in Africa. Should a high piety priest go heretic in Timbuktu for example, he could be difficult to get rid of. Surely any weenie priest produced from Timbuktu couldn't kill him. Perhaps it would be wise to build up a "spiritual center" , complete with Master Theologian's guild, to serve greater North Africa. Algiers perhaps?