Mali’s government has secured more than $1.2 billion in unpaid revenues from mining companies following a comprehensive review of the sector, Finance Minister Alousséni Sanou confirmed this week. The recovery represents one of the largest financial reversals ever imposed on the country’s extractive industry.
The effort stems from a wide-ranging audit initiated by the military authorities in early 2023. The review exposed substantial gaps between what mining firms owed and what the state actually received, revealing long-standing weaknesses in oversight and enforcement.
In response, Mali introduced a revised mining framework that significantly reshapes the balance between private operators and the state. The new code increases royalty rates, expands government equity participation in mining projects, and eliminates contractual stability provisions that previously limited fiscal adjustments.
Following the audit’s findings, a special recovery body was created to address the identified discrepancies. Officials estimated that the losses uncovered ranged from several hundred million dollars to more than one billion, prompting aggressive renegotiation with operators.
The regulatory shift sparked a prolonged standoff with Canada-based Barrick Mining, Mali’s largest gold producer, leading to nearly two years of tense negotiations. The dispute was ultimately resolved with an agreement reached in November, although Sanou did not clarify whether Barrick’s settlement formed part of the recovered sum.
Authorities expect the revised rules to generate a substantial and sustained boost to public income, potentially adding hundreds of millions of dollars to annual state revenues.
According to members of the renegotiation panel, the objective extended beyond short-term recovery. The broader aim was to reassert national control over strategic resources by increasing the state’s long-term stake in mining ventures.
As one of Africa’s leading gold producers, Mali depends heavily on mining exports to support its budget and foreign earnings, making the overhaul a central pillar of its current economic strategy.
