What Europeans were the first to import African slaves as labor to work on their plantations?

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to import African slaves as labor for their plantations.

In the 15th century, during the Age of Exploration, the Portuguese began exploring the west coast of Africa. By the 1440s, they were capturing and trading African slaves, initially using them as domestic servants in Portugal. However, by the mid-15th century, they began transporting enslaved Africans to work on sugar plantations on Atlantic islands like Madeira, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

This marked the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade, which later expanded significantly with Spanish, Dutch, British, and French involvement.