May 01, 2019· The Ghana empire rose to power mainly by capitalizing from the gold trade, as well as copper, iron-smelting & salt. (HomeTeam History / YouTube) The first written references to the Ghana Empire were made during the 8 th century by Arab writers. By this time, the Ghana Empire had grown powerful and rich, thanks to the trans-Saharan trade .Caravans bringing salt came from the north, …