Akan States , historical complex of gold-producing forest states in West Africa between the rivers Comoé and Volta (in an area roughly the coastal areas of modern republics Togo , Ghana and partially corresponds to Ivory Coast) . Their economic, political, and social systems were transformed by trading with coastal Europeans from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Of the northern Akan (or Brong) states, the earliest was (established around 1450) Bono ; from the south were the most important Denkyera , Akwamu , Fante (Fanti) and Asante .
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