Fernão Gomes

Fernão Gomes was a Portuguese merchant and explorer and first European navigator that sailed southward of Cape Palmas, Liberia.

Attracted by lucrative trade with Far East, Gomes had an ambition to find a route around Africa. In 1469 he obtained a monopoly on trade in the Gulf of Guinea by King Alfonso V of Portugal, and in return was obliged to explore 300 miles of the African coast for the following 5 years. For 100,000 reais Gomes also obtained a permission to trade in guinea pepper which was a popular substitute of black pepper. He formed large convoys of up to twenty ships to various parts of the African coast led by the best pilots. In 1471 he reached the coast of present day Ghana where he found a thriving alluvial gold trade. It was the place where he set up a famous trading post Elmina, meaning “the Mine”. It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest European building in existence below the Sahara. Except he became a wealthy man, Gomes was knighted and allowed to add the title “da Mina” to his name. To his coat of arms he added three heads of Africans wearing gold.