Mali has announced that it has settled all its outstanding debts to the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The information was revealed in a statement released by the government to provide an update on the country’s debt status.
According to the Malian authorities, the country’s debts accumulated as a result of the sanctions on Mali by ECOWAS. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier in the year placed a ban on Mali as a result of the two coups that took place in the country.
The economic and finance ministry said that the country was unable to settle its debt service between January and July as a result of the sanctions. The sanctions affected Mali’s economy as a result of the suspended loan and aid disbursements to the country by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
ECOWAS announced the sanctions on the country after Mali’s military junta unveiled a plan to rule for five years. The sanctions also led to a notable financial decline and default in the West African financial market.
However, ECOWAS announced its decision to lift the sanctions on the country in July after the West African States gathered to assess efforts to secure timetables for restoring civilian rule in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso.
ECOWAS Commission President Jean Claude Kassi Brou revealed to newsmen in July that the sanctions would be lifted immediately. Borders with Mali will reopen, and regional diplomats will return to Bamako.
“However, the heads of state decided to maintain individual sanctions, and the suspension of Mali from ECOWAS, until the return to constitutional rule,” Kassi Brou said.
The sanctions had crippled Mali’s economy, raising humanitarian concerns amid widespread suffering. Hence, the country defaulted on more than $300m of its debt, which cut it off from the regional financial market and the regional central bank.
The ECOWAS mediator in Mali, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, visited the country in June and gave positive feedback that the country had made “enormous progress.”
“The State of Mali has the honour of informing economic operators and technical and financial partners that all of Mali’s outstanding debts have been settled,” the government said in the statement.
The ministry said foreign debt now stood at more than 130 million euros while monies raised through the markets were more than 101 million euros.
One of the poorest nations in the world, Mali, has been battered by a jihadist campaign that began in the north in 2012 and has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Mali suffered a military coup in August 2020 and again in May 2021.