Canada - Mali Relations

Our bilateral relations with Mali are excellent, and they are becoming more extensive. Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré came on a State Visit to Canada from May 10 to 14, 2005, the first official visit to Canada of a president from French-speaking Africa since 1995.

Mali and Canada share common values, reflected in such things as our membership in La Francophonie and the Human Security Network, established on the initiative of Minister Axworthy. Mali is the only full-member African country in the Network, which it chaired from May 2003 to May 2004. Mali has emerged as an African leader in the fight against anti-personnel mines and the proliferation of small arms.

Canada and Mali share common concerns when it comes to peace and security on the African continent. Instructors from National Defence and the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre offer training at the Peacekeeping School (EMP) in Koulikoro, Mali, a regional training centre where Canada collaborates with France and Mali. Canada contributed $1 million towards construction of the new school, which will be based in Bamako. A senior officer from the Department of National Defence has been assigned to the EMP management team for a three-year period beginning in September 2006. Mali was admitted in 2005 to the Military Training Assistance Program of the Department of National Defence.

Canada and Mali are also partners in La Francophonie. Mali hosted an international symposium in November 2000, during which the Bamako Declaration on Democracy, Good Governance and Human Rights was adopted. This was a strong affirmation of the Francophonie as a political body. It was on the strength of this declaration that La Francophonie adopted sanctions against Togo in February 2005 and has spoken out on other crises in Africa, including the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire.

Since 1972, Mali has received Canadian official development assistance and figured prominently in CIDA programming. Since Mali has demonstrated its ability to effectively use the assistance provided by committing to improve governance and respect human rights, it is one of the nine countries that Canada chose in 2002 to receive more funding dedicated to assistance in a certain number of priority sectors. This decision was confirmed in April 2005: on the occasion of the publication of Canada's International Policy Statement, CIDA announced that Mali is one of the 25 development partners it has selected. Since Mali was chosen as country of concentration, the aid budget has nearly tripled, totalling $68.7 million in 2004-2005. Canadian aid disbursements have increased markedly, from $25 M in 2002-2003 to more than $55 M in 2004-2005. This increase in Canadian cooperation will involve a shift from project assistance to budget support. However, it remains within the priorities established as part of the programming approved in 2000, namely: improved access to basic social services (health and education); sustainable increase in family income; and the promotion of peace and security, good governance and rule of law.

Our trade with Mali remains very low: in 2004, imports from that country totalled nearly $0.4 million, while our exports were valued at $8.9 million. Canadian investment in Mali is substantial, however. Natural Resources Canada estimates mining investment to be in the order of $280 million, mainly in the gold sector. A Canadian corporation is part of a consortium that obtained a contract in 2003 to manage the railway between Bamako and Dakar, Senegal, a strategically important project for Mali. Canadian companies also invest in the telecommunications, energy and water supply sectors. Some have created companies incorporated under Malian law.

Since he was elected in 2002, President Touré came to Canada on a private visit in May 2003 and on a State visit in May 2005. Former President Alpha Oumar Konaré made an official visit to Canada in 1992 and attended the Moncton Summit in 1999. Mali has received a number of Canadian dignitaries in recent years, including the Cooperation Minister (August 2006), the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs (October 2005), the Minister of Finance (August 2004), Senator Mobina Jaffer (May 2004), the President of CIDA (April 2004) and the Minister for International Cooperation (April 2003).

Canada has been represented by an Ambassador in Bamako since 1995 (previously, the Ambassador resided in Abidjan). There has recently been a substantial increase in staff at the Canadian Embassy, from 12 employees in 2004 to 21 in 2006. Mali has maintained an Embassy in Ottawa since 1978.