Mali Economy & Development
Estimated GDP: $ 14.18 billion
Per capita income (purchasing power parity): US $ 1174
Human Development Rank (HDI): 184 of 189 (2020)
Proportion of poverty (less than $ 1.25 per day): 50.4%
Distribution of income (Gini coefficient): 33.02
Economic Transformation (BTI): Rank 104 of 137 (2020)
Economic structure and economic situation
The Malian economy is shaped by the dominance of the agricultural sector and the rapidly increasing importance of gold mining.
According to the human development indicators of the United Nations Development Program, Mali is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world (2019: 184th place out of 189). The most important economic sector is agriculture, which employs over 70% of the economically active population and contributes 38.4% to the gross domestic product (figures for 2013). Gold mining and the informal sector have grown in importance over the past two decades.
There is a clear south-north divide in economic development. Southern Mali with the agglomeration of Bamako, the cotton-growing zone and the gold mining areas shows significantly better indicators of economic development than the central and northern parts of the country.
Remittances from Malians living abroad are of great importance (according to various estimates, between 200 million euros in 2010 and one billion US dollars in 2017). According to a study by the EU, remittances in 2014 corresponded to 7.7% of the gross domestic product. Remittances are particularly important for local development in the Kayes region.
According to aceinland, Mali is a country located in Western Africa. The outbreak of civil war-like conflicts in the Ivory Coast in 2002 and the resulting economic crisis there impaired Mali’s economic development. Important sales markets for Malian agricultural products in Ivory Coast collapsed. Mali’s foreign trade, which up until 2002 was primarily carried out via the Ivory Coast, was also burdened by the sharp rise in transport costs. To make matters worse, due to xenophobic developments in the Ivory Coast, tens of thousands of Malians had to return to Mali. This put considerable economic strain on the country, as the usual money transfers to family members living in Mali were no longer necessary. In addition, there was a lack of economic opportunities for forced returnees to work in Mali. It hit the Malian economy hard. For this reason, too, the importance of handling foreign trade in overseas ports outside the Ivory Coast is increasing.
Closer cooperation in electricity supply has been agreed with the Ivory Coast. A high-voltage line has been supplying the Sikasso and Ségou regions with electricity from the Ivory Coast since 2012 and contributing to an improved supply. Another high-voltage cable for electricity import from the Ivory Coast was put into operation in 2018 and is currently to Bamako extended. In addition, a connection of the electricity networks of Mali and Guinea is planned, as well as the establishment of an electricity network with Burkina Faso and Ghana. In 2017, EDM concluded an agreement with the Senegalese energy company SENELEC on theImport of electricity from Senegal.
The average economic growth between 2002 and 2006 was 4.9% (2007 to 2009: 4.3%). Economic growth of 5.8% was achieved in 2010, with Mali benefiting primarily from the favorable development of the world market price for gold. Due in particular to the unfavorable course of the rainy season, which is extremely important for agriculture, growth in 2011 fell to just 2.7%. For 2012, the IMF initially forecast economic growth of over 5%. However, the severe domestic crisis drew a serious economic crisisso that in 2012 negative economic growth (decrease of 1.5%) was recorded. Economic growth (1.8%) was recorded again in 2013, which was based primarily on the dynamic development of agriculture, gold mining and the renewed international development cooperation. In 2017 the Malian economy grew by 5.3% (2014: 7.2%, 2015: 5.0%, 2016: 5.6%). Economic growth of 4.7% was achieved in 2018. Economic growth of 5.6% is expected for 2019.
A lot of meaningful data on the economic structure and development can be found on a website of the World Bank.
The hunger early warning systems FEWSNET and SAP, as well as the market information systems OMA and RESIMAO, provide regularly updated information on the food situation and possible food crises in Mali.
At a well in the Timbuktu region
