The electors chose Alvaro XIII to rule, but Pedro, who was expelled from the city, sought the assistance of the Portuguese, who had recently occupied Bembe, located to the south of his core domains.

[2] Once in power, Pedro worked to strengthen his position, first by using the presence of Portuguese priests to arm his closest followers as Knights of the Order of Christ, and to arrange for the burial of several long dead high ranking Kongo.

Kongo exported peanuts, ivory and other exotic products to European traders, both Portuguese from Luanda in the colony of Angola, and French, Dutch and English merchants who had been based at Boma, on the Congo River.

The transformation of the Kongo economy, in common with that of other parts of Central Africa, was in the grips of a "trade revolution" which often put formerly weak local rulers in powerful positions.

Pedro faced a major challenge on this front from Garcia Bwaka Matu, whose town of Makuta to the east of São Salvador had become an important trading hub.