2016 Country Review

Mali 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 5 Mali 6 Africa 7 Chapter 2 9 Political Overview 9 History 10 Political Conditions 12 Political Risk Index 66 Political Stability 81 Freedom Rankings 96 Human Rights 108 Government Functions 110 Government Structure 111 Principal Government Officials 121 Leader Biography 122 Leader Biography 122 Foreign Relations 131 National Security 143 Defense Forces 154 Chapter 3 156 Economic Overview 156 Economic Overview 157 Nominal GDP and Components 159 Population and GDP Per Capita 160 Real GDP and Inflation 161 Government Spending and Taxation 162 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 163 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 164 Data in US Dollars 165 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 166 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 167 World Energy Price Summary 168 CO2 Emissions 169 Agriculture Consumption and Production 170 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 172 Metals Consumption and Production 173 World Metals Pricing Summary 175 Economic Performance Index 176 Chapter 4 188 Investment Overview 188 Foreign Investment Climate 189 Foreign Investment Index 193 Corruption Perceptions Index 206 Competitiveness Ranking 217 Taxation 226 Stock Market 227 Partner Links 227 Chapter 5 229 Social Overview 229 People 230 Human Development Index 232 Life Satisfaction Index 236 Happy Planet Index 247 Status of Women 256 Global Gender Gap Index 259 Culture and Arts 268 Etiquette 268 Travel Information 269 Diseases/Health Data 280 Chapter 6 287 Environmental Overview 287 Environmental Issues 288 Environmental Policy 288 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 290 Global Environmental Snapshot 301 Global Environmental Concepts 312 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 326 Appendices 350 Bibliography 351 Mali Chapter 1 Country Overview Mali Review 2016 Page 1 of 363 pages Mali Country Overview MALI Located in western Africa, the landlocked Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. Mali was conquered by the French in the middle of the 19th century thus becoming a French colony. In 1959, it joined Senegal to form the Mali Federation. Senegal soon withdrew from the union, and Mali became independent from France in 1960. A coup d'etat in 1968 placed the country under the rule of a military dictatorship for over 20 years until 1992, when its first democratically-elected president took power. Agriculture is the mainstay of Mali’s economy, and heavy dependence on the few export products leaves the economy vulnerable to adverse weather conditions and fluctuations in world commodity prices. The country remains highly dependent on donor support and economic assistance from international financial institutions. It should be noted that Tuareg nomads inhabit northern Africa across an expanse that includes northern Mali, northern Niger, and southern Algeria. For decades, Tuareg rebels in Mali have been carrying out armed resistance aimed at achieving more regional autonomy and a more substantial portion of national resources. On the other side of the equation, the Malian military has claimed that the rebels are involved in drug-smuggling. More recently, the Tuareg rebels formed the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (NLMA), with the objective of establishing an autonomous Azawad region in the northern part of the country. Fighters from this NLMA faction of the Tuareg rebels were involved in a spate of recent bloody clashes and were blamed for fomenting unrest in a region that has seen sporadic and tentative overtures of peace. Of note was the fact that NLMA fighters were well-armed and professionally trained, with many of them also enjoying ties to the former Qadhafi regime in Libya. In March 2012, renegade military troops in Mali said they had overthrown the president and seized control of the country. That renegade cabal of soldiers explained that they had taken this action because the government failed to lead in the fight against insurgent ethnic Tuareg, who have been carrying out armed resistance aimed at achieving more regional autonomy and a more substantial portion of national resources. Specifically, the coup leadership said that the military was not given enough arms and military equipment to fight the Tuareg, and that President Toure was not effective in tackling the "terrorism in the north." International sanctions persuaded the coup leadership to transition power, and pave the way for elections. However, the arrests of several politicians aligned with the ousted regime by the military raised questions about the actual control exercised by the transitional authorities. As well, the post-coup landscape was marked by Mali Review 2016 Page 2 of 363 pages Mali turbulence in the months after the coup, as loyalists of ousted President Toure became embroiled in violent clashes with soldiers involved with the military junta. In May 2012, Mali -- which was already in a state of turmoil due to a coup -- saw its political landscape became even more complicated when Tuareg and Islamist rebels agreed to form a Shari'a state. The separatist Tuareg, under the aegis of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (NMLA), along with Ansar Dine, an Islamist rebel enclave with ties to the terror base, al-Qaida, seized control over the northern part of the country in the aftermath of the March 2012 coup. Now, at the close of May 2012, they had apparently forged an agreement to merge their forces and transform the territory they controlled into an Islamic state. By mid-2012, the campaign of cultural destruction by Ansar Dine -- reminiscent of the Taliban in Afghanistan -- raised questions about Mali's power chasm in the north clearing the way for new Jihadist terrain. The 2012 coup in Mali, the Tuareg rebellion in the north, the secessionist movement involving the MNLA, the militant extremist Islamic thrust of Ansar Dine, and the continuing eruptions of violence, have together contributed to a mass exodus of Malians who have fled their homes in fear. The displacement of thousands of people, in conjunction with an ongoing regional drought, has led to warnings from aid agencies about a burgeoning humanitarian crisis in Mali. In late 2012, the United Nations Security Council approved the deployment of an Africa-led intervention force to assist the government of Mali in retaking control of areas of northern Mali held by Islamists and Tuareg rebels. The move was also intended to stabilize the country, given the ongoing political turbulence that has rocked Mali since the coup earlier in the year. By the start of 2013, clashes between Malian soldiers and Islamist fighters occurred just as the Malian government was set to convene talks with Islamist and Tuareg rebels. The advance of Islamists led to an intervention by France at the request of the Mali government and with the blessing of the United Nations Security Council, with French jets pounding targets held by the militants extremist. African troops were set to join French and Malian troops, as set forth by United Nations Security Resolution 2085. At issue was the effort to repel the advance of extremist Islamist militants, to curb the threat of terrorism and Jihadism, and to protect global security. By mid-2013, a peace agreement (albeit of an uneasy variety) was being forged between the government of Mali and the Tuareg rebels, and a path was set for fresh presidential elections to be held. In those elections, the winner was Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of the Rally for Mali (RPM) became the new elected leader of Mali. There were high hopes that the election of Keita would return Mali to stability and constitutional order. An investigation of former President Toure along with legal charges against coup leader, General Sanogo, suggested that the new government would be taking a strong hand in the administration of the country, particularly with regard to the military. In 2014, renewed violence broke out between the Tuareg rebels and government forces and has Mali Review 2016 Page 3 of 363 pages Mali periodically flared well since that time. That being said, there were cautious hopes that a sustainable peace accord could be achieved in 2015. Meanwhile, Islamist Jihadists have continued to plague northern Mali, thus spurring continued engagement by France and other international forces in Mali. Mali Review 2016 Page 4 of 363 pages Mali Key Data Key Data Region: Africa Population: 15718081 Climate: Subtropical to arid; hot and dry February French (official) Languages: Bambara Numerous African languages Currency: 1 CFAF=100 centimes Proclamation of the Republic is 22 September (1960), Liberation Day is 19 Holiday: November (1968) Area Total: 1240000 Area Land: 1220000 Coast Line: 0 Mali Review 2016 Page 5 of 363 pages Mali Mali Country Map Mali Review 2016 Page 6 of 363 pages Mali Africa Regional Map Mali Review 2016 Page 7 of 363 pages Mali Mali Review 2016 Page 8 of 363 pages Mali Chapter 2 Political Overview Mali Review 2016 Page 9 of 363 pages Mali History Malians express great pride in their ancestry. Mali is the cultural heir to the succession of three ancient African empires, Ghana, Malinke and Songhai that ruled the West African savanna lands from about 300 to 1600 in the common era, or C.E. These empires, known as the "Great Three," controlled Saharan trade and contact with the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations of that period. The Ghana Empire, dominated by the Soninke people, and centered in the area along the Malian- Mauritanian frontier, was a powerful trading state from about 700 to 1075 C.E. 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 at the beginning of the 14th century when it conquered Timbuktu and Gao.

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