This is a cavalryman from the medieval empire of Mali that dominated West Africa between 1230 and 1672 AD. Mali was one of a number of equestrian empires and kingdoms that developed in Africa’s northern savanna belt, although the tsetse flies which swarmed the continent’s equatorial regions prevented the spread of horses further south.
Finding accurate, contemporary depictions of Malian cavalry was not easy, so a lot of guesswork went into this image. However, imported chain mail is known to have been available to them, and the ruler Mansa Musa (c. 1312-1337 AD) probably introduced stirrups into the region after his famous pilgrimage to Mecca.