Fernão Gomes
In 1469, merchant and explorer Fernão Gomes received a five-year monopoly of Portuguese trade in the Gulf of Guinea from Afonso V in return for an annual rent of 200,000 reais and a commitment to explore one hundred leagues of unknown coast beyond Cape Verde every year. The contract, which allowed Afonso to concentrate his attention on North Africa and helped fund Portuguese campaigns against the Moors, was subsequently extended for another year. When the War of the Castilian Succession broke out in 1475, Gomes declined further extensions.
A separate arrangement gave him a monopoly of trade in malagueta pepper (a.k.a. grains of paradise, a popular substitute for black pepper) for an additional payment of 100,000 reais per year.
While Gomes remained in Lisbon to distribute African products, he employed João de Santarém, Pedro Escobar, Lopo Gonçalves, Fernão do Pó, and Pedro de Sintra to carry out the exploratory work. His captains found a thriving trade in alluvial gold when they reached Elmina ("the Mine") in 1471 and comfortably exceeded their obligations, crossing the Equator to reach the Cape of Santa Catarina and the islands of Bioko, São Tomé, and Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea.
Despite the hefty cost, the substantial profits Gomes obtained, especially from his warehouse in Elmina, allowed him to assist Afonso's campaigns in Morocco, where he played a significant role in the Portuguese conquests of Asilah, Alcácer Ceguer, and Tangier. After gaining a knighthood, he continued to accumulate honours and to influence the kingdom's economy. He was appointed to the royal council in 1478.
Sources:
Adam Simmons, The African Adoption of the Portuguese Crusade during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern%C3%A3o_Gomes
Links to add:
João de Santarém
Pedro Escobar
Lopo Gonçalves
Fernão do Pó
Pedro de Sintra
Elmina
Cape of Santa Catarina
Bioko
São Tomé
Príncipe
Gulf of Guinea.
Asilah
Alcácer Ceguer
Tangier
