🇲🇱 Mali

Mali is a vast Sahelian country of 22 million with a GDP of about $19 billion. Bamako is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa. The country was home to the Mali Empire and the legendary city of Timbuktu, which in the 14th century was one of the world's great centers of learning — its libraries contained hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. Mali is Africa's third-largest gold producer. The northern half of the country has been destabilized by jihadist insurgencies since 2012, and a military junta has ruled since a 2020 coup, expelling French forces and inviting Russian Wagner mercenaries. Mali's music scene — from Ali Farka Touré to Salif Keita — has had an outsized global influence.

Gold accounts for about 70% of export revenue. Cotton is the second-largest export — Mali is one of Africa's top cotton producers. Agriculture employs about 80% of the population, with the Niger River's inner delta providing fertile land. The security crisis has devastated the northern economy and tourism. France was the dominant trade partner but relations have collapsed since the coup. The CFA franc provides monetary stability but limits policy flexibility.

Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts — estimated at 700,000 documents covering astronomy, medicine, law, and mathematics — were secretly smuggled out of the city in 2013 to save them from jihadist destruction. Mali's Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud-brick building in the world, rebuilt annually in a massive community effort. The Festival au Désert, held in the Sahara near Timbuktu, was one of the world's most unique music festivals before security concerns shut it down.

Mali's security crisis shows no sign of resolution, and the Wagner partnership hasn't improved stability. The gold revenue keeps the government afloat, but the human cost of the conflict is enormous. Timbuktu's manuscripts are safer than the country itself.