Gold-rich Mali could leverage revenues from its overhauled mining sector to raise as much as 500 billion CFA francs, equivalent to about $900 million, for energy, water and transport projects, the country’s Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou has said.
The plan offers the clearest indication yet of how Mali, Africa’s second-largest gold producer, intends to use proceeds from its revised mining framework to address infrastructure shortages across the landlocked West African country.
Speaking on state television at the weekend following the inaugural meeting of the Energy, Water and Transport Infrastructure Development Fund, Sanou said the fund had raised 109.14 billion CFA francs ($193 million) between January 2025 and June 2026.
Mali targets larger infrastructure financing
Since its creation in 2023, the fund has been financed entirely by mining permit holders through contributions equal to 1% of quarterly turnover and ad valorem taxes set at 1% during a mine’s first five years before rising to 2%.
