It looks like a tool to me, too; heavy and plain with a flat hammer poll. I don't know if I can expand on this in a meaningful way or where it comes from, but I don't know that that is the original handle. The handle is of round cross-section? This is seen in some regions (already mentioned, I think; India and Africa). The method of attachment is unusualy for Africa. Most traditional African axes are tanged, and most European style axes I've seen copied in Africa, Asia, the Americas are rather plain and simple (indeed usually the head is a simple quadralateral when viewed from the side). I don't know what this is and am guessing. Could it be a reproduction of some type? The heavy hammer poll is a tool feature and meshes well with the hammered surface and the thick walls of the socket; the curled ends of the blade and the silver overlay on the handle both seem peculiar in this context?
Note the dimple in the middle of the poll. I don't know
just note it.