The two most important trade items in west africa were -clay and oil -gold and silver -salt and gold -oil and silk

Oil and silk  because the Africans would make  dresses out of the silk

Currently, as of february 2016, an american traveling in france would be by the exchange rate. the weakness of the euro and the strength of the us dollar means that items in france cost less to an american than they otherwise would. of course, if this trend reverses and the us dollar weakens and the euro strengthens, such as was happening in early 2008, an american traveling in france would have an adverse experience because items would cost relatively more.