Russia and Mali Reinforce Ties With Cooperation in Security, Mining and Nuclear Energy
On 29 October 2029, in the margins of the 3rd Russia-Africa Summit, Malian Interim President Assimi Goita held a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mali has emerged as a key partner of Russia in Africa and both Mali and Russia are engaging in high-intensity dialogues at various levels. On this occasion, the two sides took the opportunity to review existing cooperation projects and to explore new ones.
In March 2026, a subsidiary of Rosatom took a 75% in the Sikasso #Lithium Mine and plans to invest to develop the mine. Russian state-owned enterprise Rosgeologiya and Mali signed a cooperation agreement on geological survey to map out more than half of Mali’s territory to uncover new mining assets. The scope involves the setting up of a centralized digital system to store geological data, track mining licenses and act as a support tool for the management of Mali’s mineral resources.
(Source: Al-Jazeera)
At the same time, the two countries will cooperate to tighten control over transactions involving precious metals and stones, particularly gold. Gold makes up nearly 80% of Mali’s export revenue, and it is suspected that the Government is losing substantial amounts of money through illegal activities.
Formerly, it is believed that the Wagner Group was providing security services to Mali at a rate of more than USD 10 million per month. Going forward, the state-backed Africa Corps will take over the advisory, technical and combat assistance to the Malian military. It is envisaged that similar deals will be extended to the Sahel States via the Joint Forces of the Alliance of Sahel States.
To address the energy crisis and enhance #EnergySecurity, Mali and Russia fast-tracked nuclear cooperation. Russia proposed floating nuclear power plants and small modular reactors as potential solutions to Mali. Compared to traditional nuclear power plants, these can be deployed quite fast and do not necessitate as much up-front capital. Mali has well-known #uranium deposits in the Falea and Tessalit regions, which it wishes to put to good use.