In the relevant literature African slavery is categorized into indigenous slavery and export slavery, depending on whether or not slaves were traded beyond the continent. Slavery in historical Africa was practised in many different forms: Debt slavery, enslavement of war captives, military slavery, slavery for prostitution, and enslavement of criminals were all practised in various parts of Africa. Slavery for domestic and court purposes was widespread throughout Africa. Plantation slavery also occurred, primarily on the eastern coast of Africa and in parts of West Africa.

But with the rise of the trans-Saharan slave trade in the 7th century, several significant African states reorganized around the slave trade, including the ancient Ghana Empire (not to be confused with present-day Ghana), the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. This shift altered the status of slaves: they became movable property, bought and sold as commodities. This chattel slavery is a specific servitude relationship where the slave is treated as the property of the owner. As such, the owner is free to sell, trade, or treat the slave as he would other pieces of property, and the children of the slave often are retained as the property of the master. There is evidence of long histories of chattel slavery in the Nile River valley, much of the Sahel and North Africa. Evidence is incomplete about the extent and practices of chattel slavery throughout much of the rest of the continent prior to written records by Arab or European traders.

The indigenous slave trade had long been part of the pan-African trade network, which included goods such as salt, copper, and dates from the Sahara, and millet, sorghum, wheat, livestock, gum, butter, ivory, and gold from West Africa. There were two primary slave routes: one between North and West Africa, and another linking East, Central, and Southern Africa. Major West African slave markets were recorded as early as the year 1000. Bono Manso and Begho in Ghana were prominent slave markets from 1000 to around 1750.

When the transatlantic slave trade emerged, the demand for slaves in West Africa increased dramatically, as did the internal slave trade. Many nations, such as the Ashanti of present-day Ghana and the Yoruba of modern Nigeria, were involved. Slavery was not only an integral part of trade relations but also of political relations between states. Almost all states conquered by the renowned Asante Empire from 1700 to the late 19th century paid annual tribute in goods and slaves. Akosua Perbi, head of the History Department at the University of Ghana, identified 63 slave markets in present-day Ghana alone.

Groups such as the Imbangala of Angola and the Nyamwezi of Tanzania acted as intermediaries or roaming bands that waged war against African tribes to capture people for export.