colony · Scandinavia and the Baltic

Swedish Gold Coast

1650 CE – 1663 CE · capital Carolusborg

Sweden's brief foothold in West Africa, centred on Carolusborg at Cape Coast, lost to Denmark and the Dutch within thirteen years.

Origins

The Swedish Africa Company was founded in 1649 by Louis De Geer, a Dutch-born industrialist in Swedish service. Its agent Hendrik Carloff obtained land from the local Fante rulers, and in 1653 the company built Fort Carolusborg at Cape Coast, on the coast of modern Ghana, along with smaller lodges.

Rule and society

The colony was a trading enterprise, exchanging European goods for gold, ivory and enslaved people. It relied on agreements with local African rulers and on Dutch and Swedish crews, and it faced constant rivalry from the Dutch West India Company and the Danes.

Decline and legacy

In 1658 Carloff, now serving Denmark, seized Carolusborg. The fort changed hands several times before the Dutch took it in 1663, ending Swedish presence in Africa. As Cape Coast Castle under the English from 1664, it became one of the main centres of the British slave trade.

Connections (2)

More states of Scandinavia and the Baltic →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Swedish Gold Coast. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/swedish-gold-coast
MLA
“Swedish Gold Coast.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/swedish-gold-coast. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Swedish Gold Coast.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/swedish-gold-coast.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Swedish Gold Coast’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/swedish-gold-coast (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻