According to the human development indicators of the United Nations Development Program, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world (2020: 184th place out of 189 countries). The following figures are primarily taken from human development reports issued by the United Nations Development Program and UNICEF country reports.
Topography of Mali
Human development indicators in Mali
| – average life expectancy (in years) | 57 (2016) |
| – population growth per year | 3.1% (2018) |
| – gross national product (per capita, purchasing power parity) | 2130 US $ (2016) |
| – Proportion of the population living below the poverty line | 47% (2015) |
| – Illiteracy rate among people over the age of 15 | 61% (2015) |
| – Enrollment rate | 76% (2016) |
| – Death rate of under five year olds (deaths / 1,000 live births) | 98 (2018) |
| – Proportion of malnourished children younger than 5 years | 26% (2016) |
| – Proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water | 30% (2017) |
| – HIV infection rate | 1.4% (2018) |
A lot of useful information can be found on the Mali pages of the Federal Foreign Office, the BBC and the World Bank. The statistical department of the UN or the national institute Nationale de la Statistique provides further basic data on the country.
In Mali there are some large protected areas as well as two national parks, whose sustainable tourism development and management represent a major challenge. Another very extensive protected area is being planned in Northern Mali, the Tamesna Conservation Area. It is unclear to what extent the current conflict and lawlessness have affected the wildlife of the planned protected area.
Mountainous region in the southwest Mali
Development and development policy
Poverty and Poverty Reduction
Since 1992 the Malian government has pursued a multisectoral policy of poverty reduction and the satisfaction of basic needs, which can also be seen in the country-specific Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals. The most important development programs are primarily aimed at expanding basic health services, water supply and primary education. These priorities have been incorporated into the development of poverty reduction strategies since 2002. A weak point in the implementation of the strategies so far can be seen in the relatively weak participation of civil society.
A social housing program initiated by the government, within the framework of which almost 13,000 residential units had been built by 2018 (final goal: up to 50,000 residential units), is primarily aimed at the small urban middle class.
Small dams
National development efforts
In summary, it can be stated that the government and its critics assess the development plans and prospects differently. While the government emphasizes its successes and the programs it and its predecessors have initiated, such as the PDES, its critics paint a much more pessimistic picture of the current situation, and sometimes sharply criticize the government programs.
Foreign development efforts
As a former democratic model country, Mali benefited to a large extent from support services within the framework of international development cooperation until the military coup in early 2012. In 2008 the most important donors promised the country a total of 3.2 billion FCFA development aid for the period from 2008 to 2012. In 2011 almost 30% of government spending was financed from development cooperation funds.
As a result of the military coup in 2012, international development cooperation suffered a serious setback. This changed when the Malian government decided to restore democracy. As part of an international donor conference in May 2013, more than 3.2 billion euros were pledged to Mali, primarily to stimulate the economy.
In 2016, Germany was the fourth most important donor country after the USA, France and Canada. The main multilateral donors were the EU, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
The following links lead you to country-specific activities of individual institutions and organizations:
- AFD
- SNV
- CIDA
German development and aid organizations in Mali
According to zipcodesexplorer, Mali is a country located in Western Africa. Mali has been a priority partner country for German development cooperation since 2000, and Germany has had good relations with it since independence.
As part of the three-year program 2009-2011, the federal government promised the state a total of 110 million euros as a non-repayable grant, which is a considerable increase compared to the period 2006-2008 (72 million euros, 2003-2005: 67 million euros. Euro). As a result of the military coup in 2012, development cooperation with Mali was temporarily suspended. The gradual resumption of cooperation began in early 2013. This recognized the efforts of the transitional government to restore democracy.
In 2015, the Federal Government of Mali committed 73 million euros for the three-year program 2015-2017. In 2016 and 2017, she made further commitments to the state totaling 58 million euros. The focus of the bilateral cooperation is the promotion of decentralization and good governance (including raw material governance), the promotion of a productive and sustainable agriculture as well as the expansion of the drinking water supply and the sanitation.
In the Dogon Country (Mopti region), the construction of small dams supported by German development cooperation enables the cultivation of irrigated vegetables to be expanded.
