Highlights

• Mali has a remarkable potential in the agricultural and mining sectors. The third largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa and Ghana, the number of mining companies in Mali has grown from 8 companies in 2015 to 10 in 2018. The country’s gold production increased from 46.5 tons in 2017 to more than 60 tons in 2018.  The industrial gold production reached 65.7 tons in 2019, an increase of 7.0% compared to 2018. Ranked as the largest cotton producer in Africa for several years, cotton production in Mali reached 750,000 tons in 2018, compared to 728,645 tons in 2017. It increased by 10.9% in 2019 to reach 771,750 tons.
• Mali’s productive system has been preserved despite the country’s crisis. Mali’s economy has grown by an average of 5.4 % over the last five years. In 2019, Mali’s growth is estimated at 5.1 % after 4.7% in 2018. In 2019, Malian growth is estimated at 5.1% after 4.7% in 2018. This growth was driven by the tertiary sector, whose contribution to growth increased from 1.9 percentage points in 2018 to 2.6 percentage points in 2019. As for the contribution to growth of the primary sector, it stood at 1.6 percentage points in 2019 after 1.9 percentage points in 2018.  The growth of the Malian economy is expected to slow to 0.9% in 2020 attributable to the COVID-19 crisis.
• The budget deficit of Mali related to GDP reached 1.7 % in 2019 against 4.7% in 2018 and would increase to 5.8% in 2020. However, Mali would again comply with the WAEMU community standard in 2020 with a deficit that would be 3% of GDP, in line with the continuation of the efforts to consolidate public finances initiated in the context of public finance management reforms.
• With an average debt rate of 36.2% over the period 2015-2019, Mali is the government with the lowest debt rate in the Union. The debt rate of Mali is estimated at 40.5% in 2019, an increase of 2.8 percentage points compared to 2018, and should reach 44.7% in 2020.