Pre-colonial Mali
The history of Mali is the history of three great empires (Ghana, Malinké and Songhaï) which marked its formation. Founded in the 11th century, it was led by Soundiata Keita, king of the Mande region
corresponding roughly to present-day Mali. On the occasion of his enthronement, Soundiata Keita pronounced an oath known as the Charter of the Manden, a constitutional text, albeit oral, which served as the basis for the regulation of human relations. Pursuing his territorial conquest, Soundiata Keïta took power from the king of Sosso, the former capital of the empire of Ghana, thus creating the empire of Mali. The Republic of Mali is certainly the cradle of many civilizations that gave birth to many empires and kingdoms, including, among others : – the Empire of Ghana (VIIth-XIIth centuries) – the Empire of Mali (XIIIth-XVth centuries) – the Empire Songhaï (XVth-XVIth centuries) – The Bambara kingdoms of Segou and Kaarta (XVIIth-XVIIIth centuries) – the Toucouleur Empire of El-Hadj Oumar TALL (XIXth century) – the Senufo Kingdom of Sikasso (XIXth century).
The Colonial Advent
French military penetration of the Sudan (the French name for the region) began around 1880.
In 1863, Louis Faidherbe, setting in motion his ambition of penetration, sent that same year a reconnaissance mission, the Quintin-Mage and then a second mission in 1879-1880, the Gallieni-Vallières mission to the king of Segou, Amadou Tall. The conquest of Mali was the work of Joseph Gallieni and Louis Faidherbe in 1880. As a colony of the French Sudan, Mali was administered with other French colonial territories under the name of the Federation of French West Africa. It should be noted that the Malian conquest experienced some resistance, such as that of ‘El hadj Omar, Mamadou Lamine, Dramé and Samori in 1857, even though there were failures. Resistance to French control did not end until 1898, when the Malinke warrior Samory Touré was defeated after 7 years of war.
France knew then to impose itself by establishing on the territory a direct administrative system which to proceed to the territorial division of the country. Thus, in 1880, the country was called the territory of the High River, French Sudan in 1890. By decree of 18 August 1890, Upper Senegal or Middle Niger in 1899, Senegambia-Niger in 1902, Upper Senegal-Niger in 1904, French in 1920. This name will be kept until 1960 at the independence. In 1895, the colony of French Sudan was integrated into French West Africa (FWA). The capture by the colonial army of Sikasso on May 1, 1898 and the capture of Samory Touré by Captain Henri Gouraud in September of the same year.
Gouraud in September of the same year marked the end of French colonial penetration.
Independence of the Republic of Mali
In January 1959, Sudan joined Senegal to form the Federation of Mali. On 31 March 1959, French Sudan gained the status of internal autonomy and became fully independent within the French Community on June 20, 1960. The federation collapsed on August 20, 1960, when Senegal seceded. On September 22, Sudan proclaimed itself the Republic of Mali and withdrew from the French Community under the leadership of Modibo Keita.
The name Mali does not come by chance, it echoes the Empire of Mali, one of the largest and most prosperous in the region, which had a
prosperous of the region, which existed between 1230 and 1545. But the etymology of the word Mali itself is not word Mali in the Bambara language refers to the hippopotamus, the emblematic animal of the region, but nevertheless the inhabitants use the word “Manden” to name their region.
Manden, “man” meaning manatee and “den” meaning child. This leads to a second possibility,that of the Fulani who have occupied this region for a very long time. They called the inhabitants of Manden the Malinkés, which means those who bring luck, and from which the name Mali would derive.
GEOPOLITICS AND INTERDEPENDENCE
With an area of 1,240,190 square kilometers, Mali is the second largest country in West Africa, after Niger. It borders Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Senegal, Mali is the third largest gold producer after Ghana and South Africa.
Its natural resources include uranium gold, diamonds, copper, iron ore, precious stones, zinc, manganese, bauxite, lead, lithium, oil shale, marble, gypsum, kaolin, phosphate, lignite, diatom salt and rock salt are its pride. Mali is also home to a varied fauna which includes black rhinoceros, African lions, crocodiles, elephants, camels, leopards, giraffes, chimpanzees, pythons and a variety of birds. Indeed, the link between war and economic stakes constitutes a real problem of military interventions in African countries and does not spare the Malian case. Indeed, considered by experts as a “hinge area for the transport of oil and gas”, foreign powers find it have a more than immense interest in intervening in Mali in order to secure economic interests, particularly those related to uranium. In the eyes of many Africans, France intervened in northern Mali, mainly from January 2013, in order to appropriate oil that had been vainly prospected by the Algerians without ever giving rise to in sufficient quantities to be marketable.
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT POLICY
In the context of an unprecedented security crisis, the government of Mali is nonetheless on a development trajectory. Through its strategic framework for economic recovery and sustainable development, Mali’s main objective is to find a relevant and proactive response and proactive response to major development challenges.
It takes into account the recovery of the governance deficit, a climate of peace and security and the recovery of the climate of living together that has always characterized Malian society, and the conditions for a structural transformation of the economy and strong and inclusive growth, the protection of the environment and resilience to climate change, as well as the development of human capital.
This strategic framework for 2019-2023 fully integrates all the perspectives of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and has as its vision: “A well-governed Mali, where the harmonious governed together of the different components of society is restored, peace consolidated and collective and individual security ensured in unity, cohesion and diversity, where the process of wealth creation is inclusive and respectful of the environment and where human capital is enhanced for the benefit of youth and women in particular.
SDG 7: Ensure access to reliable, sustainable and modern energy services at an affordable cost for all.
The quantified objectives of the National Energy Policy are to increase the rural electrification rate from 1% in 2005 to 12% in 2010 and 55% in 2015. Mali’s energy balance sheet shows that biomass (wood and charcoal) accounts for approximately 80% of national energy consumption, petroleum products 16%, electricity 3%, and finally, renewable energy (other than hydroelectricity) accounts for 1%. With regard to traditional energy sources, wood energy, the main resource for the energy needs of Malian households, comes from the forestry potential, whose capacity is estimated at the forestry potential is estimated at nearly 33 million hectares with a standing volume of approximately 520 million cubic meters (m3). The renewable energy inventory reveals a quantitatively very significant potential throughout the country (although there are disparities according to the sources of renewable energy). Even if they have never been accounted for in energy balances, they could be around 3% of the conventional electricity produced (about 12 MW). This falls short of the National Energy Policy, which indicates that the share of renewable energies in the national electricity production should already reach 10% in 2015. Efforts to ensure that the electrical energy needs of the population and Mali’s socio-economic activities are covered and socio-economic activities in Mali continued in 2016, mainly through the strengthening of production capacity, network extension, promotion of rural electrification and development of in rural areas and the development of renewable energy sources. The quality of electricity service has been improved thanks to the commissioning of: the Félou hydroelectric plant (60 MW), built within the framework of the OMVS, with a contribution of 27 MW to reinforce the capacity of the national interconnected system and the leasing of a 40 MW thermal power plant in Dakar, Senegal, which will help fill the electricity production gap and greatly reduce load shedding.
The Government of Mali is actively committed to contributing to the sustainable development of the country, through the provision of energy services accessible to the greatest number of the population at a lower cost and promoting socio-economic activities. A strategy for the promotion of renewable energy has been developed with the objective of ensuring of the population to clean energy capable of contributing to the sustainable socio-economic development of the country. In accordance with Mali’s energy policy, the urgent Targets for Energy Access are :
- In 2020-National electrification rate 63.4% (urban 90%, rural 52%) -34.3% of the population has access to butane-44% of the population has access to clean cooking equipment
- In 2030-National electrification rate 87% (100% urban, 81.5% rural)-62.5% of the population has access to butane-82% of the population has access to clean cooking equipment-10,000 multifunctional platforms.
In addition, the adoption of the 2017-2020 Emergency Social Energy Access Program by the Council of Ministers on May 3, 2017 will have a positive impact on the level of access to energy in the next three years.
The startup Africa GreenTec through the issuance of a bond of 10 million euros to the delivery and installation of mobile solar containers in Mali to ensure access to clean energy for 250,000 Malians to clean, cheap and reliable energy. However, it should be noted that in order to meet the country’s energy needs, significant efforts are still required to remedy the lack of financing in the sector in general and for rural electrification in particular. As far as rural electrification is concerned, the main difficulties can be summarized as the lack of own resources to enable the Malian Agency for Domestic Energy and Rural Electrification to conduct a sovereign investment policy for rural electrification and domestic energy.