The other characteristic of this era is the gradual loss of its northern and eastern possessions to the rising Songhai Empire and the movement of the Mali's economic focus from the trans-Saharan trade routes to the burgeoning commerce along the coast.
A outra característica desta época é a perda gradual das posesións norteñas e orientais polo crecente fortalecemento do Imperio Songhai e o traslado do foco económico que supuña Malí polas rutas do comercio trans-sahariano, ao comercio costeiro.