Introduction:
The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of
France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few
months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by
dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a coup that ushered in democratic
government. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first democratic presidential
election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term
constitutional limit, KONARE stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou
TOURE.
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Geography
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CLIMATE
BAMAKO 12 53 N, 7 95 W, 1250 feet (381 meters) above sea level.
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Mali's population consists of diverse Sub-Saharan ethnic groups, sharing similar
historic, cultural, and religious traditions. Exceptions are the Tuaregs and
Maurs, desert nomads, related to the North African Berbers. The Tuaregs
traditionally have opposed the central government. Starting in June 1990, armed
attacks in the north by Tuaregs seeking greater autonomy led to clashes with the
military. In April 1992, the government and most opposing factions signed a pact
to end the fighting and restore stability in the north. Its major aims are to
allow greater autonomy to the north and increase government resource allocation
to what has been a traditionally impoverished region. The peace agreement was
celebrated in 1996 in Timbuktu during an official and highly publicized ceremony
called Flamme de la Paix--peace flame.
Historically, good inter-ethnic relations throughout the rest of the country
were facilitated by easy mobility on the Niger River and across the country's
vast savannahs. Each ethnic group was traditionally tied to a specific
occupation, all working within close proximity. The Bambara, Malinke, and Dogon
are farmers; the Fulani, Maur, and Tuareg are herders; the Soninkés or Saracolés
are traders; while the Bozo are fishers. In recent years, this linkage has
shifted as ethnic groups seek diverse, nontraditional sources of income.
Although each ethnic group speaks a separate language, nearly 80% of Malians
communicate in Bambara, the common language of the marketplace. Malians enjoy a
relative harmony rare in African states.
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HISTORY
Malians express great pride in their ancestry. Mali is the cultural heir to the
succession of ancient African empires--Ghana, Malinké, and Songhai--that
occupied the West African savannah. These empires controlled Saharan trade and
were in touch with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern centers of civilization.
The Ghana Empire, dominated by the Soninke or Saracolé people and centered in
the area along the Malian-Mauritanian frontier, was a powerful trading state
from about A.D. 700 to 1075. The Malinke Kingdom of Mali had its origins on the
upper Niger River in the 11th century. Expanding rapidly in the 13th century
under the leadership of Soundiata Keita, it reached its height about 1325, when
it conquered Timbuktu and Gao. Thereafter, the kingdom began to decline, and by
the 15th century, it controlled only a small fraction of its former domain.
The Songhai Empire expanded its power from its center in Gao during the period
1465-1530. At its peak under Askia Mohammad I, it encompassed the Hausa states
as far as Kano (in present-day Nigeria) and much of the territory that had
belonged to the Mali Empire in the west. It was destroyed by a Moroccan invasion
in 1591. Timbuktu was a center of commerce and of the Islamic faith throughout
this period, and priceless manuscripts from this epoch are still preserved in
Timbuktu. The United States and other donors are making efforts to help preserve
these priceless manuscripts as part of Mali's cultural heritage.
French military penetration of the Soudan (the French name for the area) began
around 1880. Ten years later, the French made a concerted effort to occupy the
interior. The timing and resident military governors determined methods of their
advances. A French civilian governor of Soudan was appointed in 1893, but
resistance to French control did not end until 1898, when the Malinké warrior
Samory Touré was defeated after 7 years of war. The French attempted to rule
indirectly, but in many areas they disregarded traditional authorities and
governed through appointed chiefs. As the colony of French Soudan, Mali was
administered with other French colonial territories as the Federation of French
West Africa.
In 1956, with the passing of France's Fundamental Law (Loi Cadre), the
Territorial Assembly obtained extensive powers over internal affairs and was
permitted to form a cabinet with executive authority over matters within the
Assembly's competence. After the 1958 French constitutional referendum, the
Republique Soudanaise became a member of the French Community and enjoyed
complete internal autonomy.
In January 1959, Soudan joined Senegal to form the Mali Federation, which became
fully independent within the French Community on June 20, 1960. The federation
collapsed on August 20, 1960, when Senegal seceded. On September 22, Soudan
proclaimed itself the Republic of Mali and withdrew from the French Community.
President Modibo Keita--whose party Union Soudanaise du Rassemblement
Democratique Africain (US/RDA) had dominated preindependence politics--moved
quickly to declare a single-party state and to pursue a socialist policy based
on extensive nationalization. A continuously deteriorating economy led to a
decision to rejoin the Franc Zone in 1967 and modify some of the economic
excesses.
On November 19, 1968, a group of young officers staged a bloodless coup and set
up a 14-member Military Committee for National Liberation (CMLN), with Lt.
Moussa Traore as President. The military leaders attempted to pursue economic
reforms but for several years faced debilitating internal political struggles
and the disastrous Sahelian drought.
A new constitution, approved in 1974, created a one-party state and was designed
to move Mali toward civilian rule. However, the military leaders remained in
power. In September 1976, a new political party was established, the Democratic
Union of the Malian People (UDPM), based on the concept of democratic
centralism. Single-party presidential and legislative elections were held in
June 1979, and Gen. Moussa Traore received 99% of the votes. His efforts at
consolidating the single-party government were challenged in 1980 by
student-led, anti-government demonstrations, which were brutally put down, and
by three coup attempts.
The political situation stabilized during 1981 and 1982 and remained generally
calm throughout the 1980s. The UDPM spread its structure to cercles and
arrondissements (administrative subdivisions) across the land. Shifting its
attention to Mali's economic difficulties, the government approved plans for
cereal marketing liberalization, reform in the state enterprise system, and new
incentives to private enterprise, and worked out a new structural adjustment
agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, by 1990, there
was growing dissatisfaction with the demands for austerity imposed by the IMF's
economic reform programs and the perception that the President and his close
associates were not themselves adhering to those demands.
As in other African countries, demands for multiparty democracy increased. The
Traore government allowed some opening of the system, including the
establishment of an independent press and independent political associations,
but insisted that Mali was not ready for democracy. In early 1991, student-led,
anti-government rioting broke out again, but this time government workers and
others supported it. On March 26, 1991, after 4 days of intense anti-government
rioting, a group of 17 military officers arrested President Traore and suspended
the constitution. Within days, these officers joined with the Coordinating
Committee of Democratic Associations to form a predominantly civilian, 25-member
ruling body, the Transitional Committee for the Salvation of the People (CTSP).
The CTSP then appointed a civilian-led government. A national conference held in
August 1991 produced a draft constitution (approved in a referendum January 12,
1992), a charter for political parties, and an electoral code. Political parties
were allowed to form freely. Between January and April 1992, a president,
National Assembly, and municipal councils were elected. On June 8, 1992, Alpha
Oumar Konare, the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA), was
inaugurated as the President of Mali's Third Republic.
In 1997, attempts to renew national institutions through democratic elections
ran into administrative difficulties, resulting in a court-ordered annulment of
the legislative elections held in April 1997. The exercise, nonetheless,
demonstrated the overwhelming strength of President Konare's ADEMA Party,
causing some other historic parties to boycott subsequent elections. President
Konare won the presidential election against scant opposition on May 11. In the
two-round legislative elections conducted on July 21 and August 3, 1997, ADEMA
secured more than 80% of the National Assembly seats.
General elections were organized in June and July 2002. President Konare did not
seek reelection since he was serving his second and last term as required by the
constitution. All political parties participated in the elections. In
preparation for the elections, the government completed a new voter's list after
a general census was administered a few months earlier with the support of all
political parties. Retired General Amadou Toumani Toure, former head of state
during Mali's transition (1991-1992) became the country's second democratically
elected President as an independent candidate in 2002, and was reelected to a
second 5-year term in 2007.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Under Mali's 1992 constitution, the president is chief of state and commander in
chief of the armed forces. The president is elected to a 5-year term, with a
limit of two terms. The president appoints the prime minister as head of
government. The president chairs the Council of Ministers (the prime minister
and currently 28 other ministers, including 5 women), which adopts proposals for
laws submitted to the National Assembly for approval.
The National Assembly is the sole legislative arm of the government. It
currently consists of 147 members. Representation is apportioned according to
the population of administrative districts. Election is direct and by party or
independent list. The term of office is 5 years. The Assembly meets for two
regular sessions each year. It debates and votes on legislation proposed either
by one of its members or by the government and has the right to question
government ministers about government actions and policies. Sixteen political
parties, aggregated into five parliamentary groups, are represented in the
Assembly. In legislative elections held in July 2007, the ADEMA Party regained
the majority it lost in 2002, winning 51 seats, ahead of another party aligned
with President Toure, the Union for Republic and Democracy (URD), which won 36.
The former majority party at the National Assembly, the Rassemblement Pour le
Mali (RPM) of former Prime Minister Ibrahim B. Keita, won 11 seats. Other than
the RPM, President Toure has the support of most of the political parties
represented in the National Assembly.
Mali's constitution provides for a multiparty democracy, with the only
restriction being a prohibition against parties based on ethnic, religious,
regional, or gender lines. In addition to those political parties represented in
the National Assembly, others are active in municipal councils.
Administratively, Mali is divided into eight regions and the capital district of
Bamako, each under the authority of an appointed governor. Each region consists
of five to nine districts (or cercles), administered by prefets (commandants).
Cercles are divided into communes, which, in turn, are divided into villages or
quarters. The decentralization process has started with the establishment of 702
elected municipal councils, headed by elected mayors. Election of local
officials took place; greater local control over finances and the reduction of
administrative control by the central government are being implemented.
Mali's legal system is based on codes inherited at independence from France. New
laws have been enacted to make the system conform to Malian life, but French
colonial laws not abrogated still have the force of law. The constitution
provides for the independence of the judiciary. However, the Ministry of Justice
appoints judges and supervises both law enforcement and judicial functions. The
Supreme Court has both judicial and administrative powers. Under the
constitution, there is a separate constitutional court and a high court of
justice with the power to try senior government officials in cases of treason.
Principal Government Officials
President--Amadou Toumani Touré
Prime Minister--Ousmane Issoufi Maiga
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Moctar Ouane
Minister of Industry and Commerce--Choguel Kokala Maiga
Minister of Economy and Finance--Abou-Bakar Traoré
Ambassador to the United Nations--Cheick Sidi Diarra
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ECONOMY
Mali's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $470 (2006 est.) places it
among the world's 10 poorest nations. Its potential wealth lies in mining and
the production of agricultural commodities, livestock, and fish. Agricultural
activities occupy 70% of Mali's labor force and provide 36% of the GDP. Cotton,
gold, and livestock made up 80%-90% of total export earnings in Mali in 2006.
Small-scale traditional farming dominates the agricultural sector, with
subsistence farming--of cereals, primarily sorghum, millet, and maize--on about
90% of the 1.4 million hectares (3.4 million acres) under cultivation. The high
cost of petroleum products, the fall in the world market price for cotton and
gold, and corresponding loss of customs revenues put pressure on the economy and
led the government to be very tight on cash disbursements in recent years. In
addition, the 2002-2003 closure of the main import/export route to the port of
Abidjan increased the pressure on the fragile Malian economy. Nonetheless, a
focus on quality cotton production and double-digit increases in cereal and gold
production boosted real GDP growth from 2.2% in 2004 to 5.1% in 2005.
The most productive agricultural area lies along the banks of the Niger River
between Bamako and Mopti and extends south to the borders of Guinea, Cote
d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. Average rainfall varies in this region from 50
centimeters per year (20 in.) around Mopti to 140 centimeters (55 in.) in the
south near Sikasso. This area is most important for the production of cotton,
rice, millet, corn, vegetables, tobacco, and tree crops.
Rice is grown extensively along the banks of the Niger between Ségou and Mopti,
with the most important rice-producing area at the Office du Niger, located
north of Ségou toward the Mauritanian border. Using water diverted from the
Niger, the Office du Niger irrigates about 80,000 hectares of land for rice and
sugarcane production. About one-third of Mali's paddy rice is produced at the
Office du Niger.
The Niger River also is an important source of fish, providing food for
riverside communities; the surplus--smoked, salted, and dried--is exported. Due
to drought and diversion of river water for agriculture, fish production has
steadily declined since the early 1980s. The government has started plans to
develop fish breeding, mainly in the Niger delta, in order to boost fish
production.
Sorghum is planted extensively in the drier parts of the country and along the
banks of the Niger in eastern Mali, as well as in the lakebeds in the Niger
delta region. During the dry season, farmers near the town of Diré have
cultivated wheat on irrigated fields for hundreds of years. Peanuts are grown
throughout the country but are concentrated in the area around Kita, west of
Bamako.
Mali's resource in livestock consists of millions of cattle, sheep, and goats.
Approximately 40% of Mali's herds were lost during the great drought in 1972-74.
The level was gradually restored, but the herds were again decimated in the
1983-85 drought. The overall size of Mali's herds is not expected to reach
pre-drought levels in the north of the country, where encroachment of the desert
has forced many nomadic herders to abandon pastoral activities and turn instead
to farming. The largest concentrations of cattle are in the areas north of
Bamako and Ségou extending into the Niger delta, but herding activity is
gradually shifting southward, due to the effects of previous droughts.
With the technical support of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded
projects, private cooperatives developed a regional border market in the
southern city of Sikasso. Livestock professionals contributed to a steady
increase in cattle exports. Sheep, goats, and camels are raised to the exclusion
of cattle in the dry areas north and east of Timbuktu.
Until the mid-1960s, Mali was self-sufficient in grains--millet, sorghum, rice,
and corn. Diminished harvests during bad years, a growing population, changing
dietary habits, and, most importantly, policy constraints on agricultural
production resulted in grain deficits almost every year from 1965 to 1986.
Production has rebounded since 1987, however, thanks to agricultural policy
reforms undertaken by the government and supported by the Western donor nations.
Liberalization of producer prices and an open cereals market have created
incentives to production. These reforms, combined with adequate rainfall,
successful integrated rural agriculture programs in the south, and improved
management of the Office du Niger, have led to surplus cereal production over
the past 5 years. Except for 2002 and 2004, annual rainfall, critical for Mali's
agriculture, has been at or above average since 1993. Cereal production,
including rice, grew annually until 2002, when the country experienced a food
production deficit, alleviated by donors' massive contributions to food security
stocks. Locust infestation during the 2004 agricultural campaign prompted the
government to seek assistance from the donor community in order to fill the gap
in the regions that had a significant production deficit. The government
anticipates a record harvest of 3.4 million tons in 2006/2007 due to abundant
rainfall, 16% more than the average production of the past 5 years. Mali?s
cotton production grew from 500,000 tons in 1997 to a record 620,000 tons in
2003-2004, making Mali the largest cotton producer on the African continent. In
2004-2005 and 2005-2006, cotton production retreated respectively to 590,000 and
500,000 tons as the parastatal cotton company CMDT focused on quality of
harvested cotton rather than quantity.
Mining is still a growing industry in Mali, with gold accounting for some 80% of
mining activity. There are considerable proven reserves of other minerals not
currently exploited. In 2002, gold briefly became Mali's number one export,
before cotton and livestock. There are two large private investments in gold
mining: Anglo-American ($250 million) and Randgold ($140 million), both
multinational South African companies located respectively in the western and
southern part of the country.
During the colonial period, private capital investment was virtually
nonexistent, and public investment was devoted largely to the Office du Niger
irrigation scheme and to administrative expenses. Following independence, Mali
built some light industries with the help of various donors. Manufacturing,
consisting principally of processed agricultural products, accounted for about
24% of the GDP in 2005.
Tourism remains a small part of Mali's economy; it is a sector with significant
potential. Mali's national parks, its ancient cities and archeological sites,
Niger River cruises, cultural festivals, and magnificent desert landscapes are
major attractions. Mali also is home to a rare herd of elephants that continues
its unique annual migration to the edges of the Sahara Desert in the northern
part of the country.
Economic Reforms
With the encouragement of the major donors and international financial
institutions, the Government of Mali initiated a series of adjustment and
stabilization programs beginning in 1982. Measures were introduced to reduce
budgetary deficits, public enterprise operating losses, and public sector
arrears.
Under the economic reform program signed with the World Bank and the IMF in
1988, the government has taken a number of steps to liberalize the regulatory
environment and thereby attract private investment. For example, applications
for the establishment of business enterprises now enjoy 'one window'--guichet
unique--processing through a single ministry, allowing a business to be
established in a matter of days. In addition, price controls on consumer goods
have been progressively eliminated; the last price control, on petroleum
products, was removed on July 1, 1992. Import quotas were eliminated in 1988,
and export taxes were dropped in 1991. The Commerce Code was revised in 1991 to
remove impediments to commercial activity. The investment and the mining codes
also were revised in the early 1990s in order to present a good investment
climate. Also in 1991, a system of commercial and administrative courts was
established to handle private trade complaints and claims against the
government.
During the period 1988-96, the government implemented a large reform program of
the public enterprise sector, including the privatization of 16 enterprises, the
partial privatization of 12, and the liquidation of 20; others were
restructured. Among the 20 enterprises left, eight were privatized, including
the largest--the electricity and water company (Energie du Mali, or EDM), and
the textile company (Industry Textile du Mali, or ITEMA). The privatization of
EDM was initially considered as a success, but the company returned to the
government portfolio in mid-2005 when the French concessionaire SAUR and the
Government of Mali agreed to end the 20-year concession. The government
completed the concession of the railroad company to the Salt Lake City-based
Savage Corporation in 2005. The privatization process for the cotton seed oil
factory (Huilerie Cotonniere du Mali, or Huicoma), was completed in June 2005.
The privatization completion date for two major companies--Societé de
Telecommunications du Mali (SOTELMA) and the Cotton Ginning Company (CMDT)--is
still uncertain, although target dates are set for 2008.
In 1999, the executive board of the IMF approved a 3-year loan for Mali under
the enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) to support the government's
economic reform program, for a total of $63 million. For the third ESAF covering
the period April 1999-March 2002, the IMF board of directors urged the Malian
authorities to persevere with their policy of fiscal consolidation, including
the modernizing of the tax system, and to deepen and accelerate structural
reforms and rehabilitate the judicial system. Mali was selected in 1999 as an
eligible country to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program and has
been benefiting from the program since FY 2000 as a budgetary support. In April
2003, Mali reached the HIPC completion point with the result that former debt
payments will now be used to fund poverty alleviation programs. Total debt
relief under the original and the enhanced HIPC initiative will amount to about
$539 million, representing a 37% reduction. As one of 14 African nations that
have reached the HIPC completion point, Mali will benefit from multilateral debt
forgiveness under the G8 Gleneagles debt forgiveness agreement.
Foreign Aid
Mali is a major recipient of foreign aid from many sources, including
multilateral organizations (most significantly the World Bank, the African
Development Bank, and Arab Funds), and bilateral programs funded by the European
Union, France, United States, Canada, Netherlands, and Germany. Before 1991, the
former Soviet Union had been a major source of economic and military aid,
including construction of a cement plant and the Kalana gold mine. Currently,
aid from Russia is restricted mainly to training and provision of spare parts.
Chinese aid remains high, and Chinese-Malian joint venture companies became more
numerous during the period 1999-2002, leading to the opening of a Chinese
investment center. The Chinese are major participants in the textile and the
sugar refinery industries and in large-scale construction projects, including
irrigation infrastructures in the Niger Valley Authority (Office du Niger), a
bridge across the Niger, a conference center, an expressway in Bamako, a new
national stadium in Bamako, four regional stadiums completed for the Africa Cup
competition in 2002, and three regional stadiums to be completed by June 2007.
In 2003, U.S. assistance reached $44.2 million: This included $40.7 million in
sector support made available through U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) programs; a Peace Corps program budget of $2.8 million for 190
volunteers serving in Mali; Self-Help and the Democracy Funds of $153,000; and
State Department Public Diplomacy Funds of $300,000 for educational
opportunities and local projects. Military assistance includes $100,000 for the
International Military Education Training (IMET) program, and $200,000 for the
Regional Defense Counter Terrorism Fellowship (RDCTF) program. The Department of
State dedicated $1.05 million to train militaries of the Pan Sahel countries,
including Mali. Mali was granted eligibility for funding from the Millennium
Challenge Account (MCA) in 2004 and 2005. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
and the Government of Mali signed a compact in October 2006 for a U.S. $460
million grant to support Mali?s proposal for an agro-business development,
airport modernization and extension, and an industrial zone development. Mali
was also granted eligibility for funding from the President?s Malaria Initiative
for about U.S. $75 million.
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