By: Reuters

Mali could leverage revenues from recent mining sector reforms to raise up to 500 billion CFA francs ($883.1 million) for energy, water and transport projects, its finance minister said, part of a bid to turn higher mining income into infrastructure financing.

The comments offer the first indication of how Mali's military government intends to deploy the windfall from its 2023 mining code overhaul, which raised royalties and increased state stakes in mining projects, sparking disputes with operators including Canada's BarrickABX.TO.

Officials said in December a government audit had recovered 761 billion CFA francs in alleged arrears from mining companies.

SOURCES OF FUNDING

Speaking on state television over the weekend after the first meeting of the Energy, Water and Transport Infrastructure Development Fund, Mali's Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou said the fund had mobilised 109.14 billion CFA francs between January 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026.

Created in 2023, it is financed exclusively by contributions from large and small-scale mining permit holders, including 1% of quarterly turnover and 10% of ad valorem taxes during a mine's first five years, rising to 2% thereafter, Sanou said.

He said the fund generates at least 50 billion CFA francs annually and could be leveraged to secure substantially larger financing for infrastructure projects.

Mali's Infrastructure and Transport Minister Dembele Madina Sissoko said projects presented to the fund included railway developments, road construction, boat acquisitions and projects linked to state-owned Mali Airlines SA.

Resource producers across Africa have been seeking a larger share of mining profits of late. Ghana's parliament last year approved the use of mineral revenues to fund a flagship infrastructure programme known as the Big Push, officials said.

($1 = 566.2000 CFA francs)

(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Editing by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Jan Harvey)