Mali clears domestic arrears after back payment from miners

Mali has ordered the payment of 312 billion CFA francs ($554 million) to local companies to clear arrears for services provided in 2023 and 2024, after state finances were bolstered in the wake of recovering 761 billion CFA francs from miners in the application of a new mining code.

The settlement will also include some invoices for this year, Minister of Economy and Finance Alousséni Sanou said on national television.

“This significant payment is the logical continuation of an operation that began in September 2024,” Sanou said. “It comes on the heels of the payment of an important amount of money received from mining companies in the country, in line with an operation for the application of the 2023 new mining code.”

Sanou said earlier this month that the country had recouped the 761 billion CFA francs in back payments as a result of asking miners to move to the new mining code.

The country upped the ante on international mining companies as it sought ways to fund a growing fight with Islamist insurgents after cutting military ties with the West, including the European Union.

(By Kamailoudini Tagba)