MALI

Mali is a unitary, secular and multi-party Republic. This republican structure is enshrined in the Constitution of 25 February 1992. The president of the Republic is the head of State and is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years, renewable once. The National Assembly is the single chamber of parliament. Following a constitutional breach on 18 August 2020, the new transitional government organised a National Conference on Refoundation, one of the main recommendations of which was to adopt a new Constitution, as part of the institutional reforms envisaged and taking into account the Peace Agreement resulting from the Algiers process signed in 2015. However, all issues of institutional reform (including constitutional reform) are conditional on a consensus, both internally with all the nation’s active forces and externally with Mali's partners, notably ECOWAS and the African Union.

The commitment to decentralisation, as expressed in the aftermath of independence, was enshrined in the 1992 Constitution, with the principle of free administration of local and regional authorities. Decentralisation was therefore seen as a means to preserve national unity and territorial integrity. The institutional framework was then enshrined in legislation and updated regularly. The High Council of Local and Regional Authorities (Haut conseil des collectivités territoriales), composed of national councillors representing local and regional authorities, was officially created in 2002. The government consults it on all matters relating to local and regional development policy, environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of life of citizens within local and regional authorities.

Following the adoption of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali (Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation au Mali) resulting from the Algiers process in May-June 2015, the main legal texts on decentralisation, territorial administration and elections were revised. These include the law determining the terms of the free administration of local and regional authorities, the law on the Code of Local and Regional Authorities, the law on the general status of local and regional authority officials and the law on the special status of the District of Bamako. The relevant laws were adopted on 14 September 2017. There are some difficulties in applying them, in particular with regard to: (i) applying the 30% transfer rate since 2018; (ii) transferring state services to local and regional authorities; (iii) setting up the local and regional police; and (iv) exercising control over local and regional authorities.

These basic texts of decentralisation (the Code of Local and Regional Authorities and the Law determining the terms for the free administration of local and regional authorities) are to be reviewed in order to address the difficulties in applying them and to adapt them to the various developments in decentralisation.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
MUNICIPAL LEVEL	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	REGIONAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2021)
Communes	Cercles	10 regions + District of Bamako
Average municipal size: 27 001 inh.
750	58	11	819

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: Mali has three levels of decentralised local and regional authorities: communes (750), cercles (58), regions (10) and the District of Bamako. All these territories are subnational governments.

Each local and regional authority is administered by a council composed of elected members (councillors) according to Law 2016-048 of 17 October 2016 on the electoral law in the Republic of Mali. Local and regional authority councillors are elected for a term of five years by proportional representation on the basis of a list of candidates, without the use of panachage or preferential votes.

On the basis of the final results of the local elections (communes, cercles and regions), the councillor at the top of the list with the highest number of votes is appointed the president of the executive body of the local or regional authority (mayor, president of the cercle council, president of the regional council) (Law 2017-052 of 2 October 2017 on the Code of Local and Regional Authorities)

For regions and cercles, the most recent elections were held in 2009. The last communal elections were held in 2016. However, due to the security situation, several communal councils were not able to be reappointed at that time. The mandates of all these elected officials have been extended until the present day through various regulatory texts. The renewal of all the mandates of communal councillors, district councillors and regional councillors is on the agenda of the institutional and political reforms to be carried out as part of implementing the recommendations of the National Conference on Refoundation held in 2021.

The government of Mali, in accordance with Decree 08-095/P-RM of 21 February 2008, has set up Orientation, Coordination and Monitoring Committees for development actions at the region, cercle and arrondissement level. These committees, made up of development actors, are chaired by the representatives of the State at the level of the administrative divisions (region, cercle and arrondissement). Nevertheless, these consultation bodies are struggling to play their full role.

REGIONAL LEVEL: The region is a subnational government, grouping several cercles, with legal personality and financial autonomy. Regions are a structure for ensuring the coherence of the development strategies and actions of the local authorities that make it up and the State. Regions as administrative units are headed by a regional governor, appointed by the central administration. The governor is the head of the regional executive. Under the governor’s authority are several regional directorates which assist them in the implementation of public policies at the regional level and supervise and control the local authorities under the region’s jurisdiction. The deconcentrated technical services provide the regional authorities with advisory support in carrying out the responsibilities transferred to them.

After several territorial reforms, the number of regions in Mali was increased from eight to 19 through Law 2012-017 on the creation of administrative constituencies in the Republic of Mali. The process of making the 11 new regions operational, planned to take five years, is behind schedule. Only the territorial divisions of two regions (Taoudénit and Ménaka) have been achieved. The number of communes increased from 703 to 750, the number of cercles from 49 to 58 and the number of operational regions from eight to 10. The continuation of the process of this territorial reform was met with strong opposition from the population in 2019 to the draft text on the geographical division of the nine other new regions. Following the constitutional breach in 2020, the transitional government in place has appointed governors in these nine new regions (Kita, Nioro du Sahel, Dioïla, Nara, Bougouni, Koutiala, San, Bandiagara and Douentza), which is a step forward in the reform.

Under the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali resulting from the Algiers process signed in 2015, interim authorities (Timbuktu, Gao, Kidal) and transitional boards (Ménaka and Taoudénit) were established in the five northern regions of Mali as of 2017. These interim authorities and transitional boards will manage these five regions, pending the election of new councillors by direct universal suffrage. Their mandate is to prepare for these elections and to facilitate the return of displaced persons.

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL: Cercles are subnational authorities composed of several communes, with legal personality and financial autonomy. Cercles are a structure for ensuring the coherence of the development strategies and actions of the communes of which they are comprised.

Cercles, as administrative constituencies, are headed by a cercle prefect, appointed by the central administration. The prefect is the head of the executive at local level. Under their authority are several sub-regional and local services that assist them in implementing public policies in the territory. They are responsible for supervising the local authorities within the cercles’ jurisdiction. The deconcentrated technical services provide the cercle authorities with advisory support in carrying out the responsibilities transferred to them.

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: The commune is a subnational government with legal personality and financial autonomy. Communes can be urban or rural. Urban communes are formed of neighbourhoods and rural communes of villages and fractions.

One or more communes form arrondissements, which are administrative constituencies headed by a sub-prefect, appointed by the central administration. The sub-prefect is the head of the executive at the arrondissement level. The sub-prefects have under their authority several local services that assist them in implementing public policies at the arrondissement level. The deconcentrated technical services provide the communal authorities with advisory support in carrying out the responsibilities transferred to them.

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: In accordance with the provisions of Article 25 of Law 2017-052 of 2 October 2017 determining the terms of free administration of local and regional authorities, local and regional authorities may cooperate with each other. This cooperation may take the form of the creation of appropriate structures for cooperation in promoting and co-ordinating development actions in specific areas under the control of the state.

Decree 2015-0848/P-RM of 22 December 2015 establishes the terms of cooperation between Malian local and regional authorities and between them and their counterparts in other countries. The creation of the cooperation structure is the result of a clearly expressed will of the decision-making bodies of the authorities in question. The cooperative entity has legal personality and financial autonomy.

One of the focus areas of the National Decentralisation Policy Framework Document (DCPND or Document cadre de politique nationale de décentralisation) 2015-2024 is to promote and support cooperation initiatives between local and regional authorities. Also, the National Fund for the Support of Local and Regional Authorities (FNACT or Fonds national d'appui aux collectivités territoriales) includes a grant for inter-authority cooperation (DIC or dotation d'inter-collectivités). To date, this mechanism has not been put in place and has not been funded.

According to Law 2017-051 of 2 October 2017 on the Code of Local and Regional Authorities, local and regional authorities have general and exclusive responsibilities. The general responsibilities are the same for all local and regional authorities. This law assigns 20 areas of responsibility to the communes (art. 22) and 19 to the cercle councils (art. 95) and the regional councils (art. 163).

A gradual transfer of deconcentrated state technical services to local and regional authorities has been decided through the provisions of Decree 2019-0258/P-RM of 27 March 2019 determining the terms for the transfer of deconcentrated state services to local and regional authorities in their areas of responsibility. To date, this process has not made any progress.

The powers of local and regional authorities follow a classic West African model, which includes overall responsibility for creating and managing public services as well as development programmes, land management, agricultural management and environmental protection. Specific responsibilities vary according to the type of subnational authority. Progress has been made in decentralising responsibilities in some sectors, such as health and education, but the transfer of the corresponding revenues to match the transfer of responsibilities has been slow, preventing local and regional authorities from fulfilling their growing spending responsibilities.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Municipal, intermediate and regional levels
1. General public services (administration)	land-use planning (shared); economic, social and cultural development plans and programmes; creating and managing communal public services; setting the rates of communal taxes within the limits of the legal bases and maximums; introduction of fees; accepting and refusing donations, grants and bequests; budgets and administrative accounts; works and supply contracts, leases and other agreements; loans and loan guarantees or endorsements; granting of subsidies; equity investments; twinning projects and cooperation with other Malian or foreign local and regional authorities; staffing arrangements; rules of procedure including the functioning of the working committees
2. Public order and safety	administrative police regulations
3. Economic affairs/transport	road and communication infrastructure; public transport and traffic plans; water and energy; small-scale mining activities; organising agricultural and health activities
4. Environmental protection	fight against pollution and nuisance; managing forestry, wildlife and fisheries resources
5. Housing and community amenities	land use planning and land use operations; land management; acquisition and disposal of heritage property
6. Health	public hygiene and sanitation
7. Culture and leisure	organising of artisanal crafts and tourism activities; youth, sport, arts and culture
8. Education	pre-school, basic, non-formal education and learning; vocational training
9. Social welfare	organising social promotion and protection activities

Scope of fiscal data: Communes, cercles, regions and the district of Bamako

SNA 2008

Availability of fiscal data: Low

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: Low

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: In Mali, the financing of local and regional authorities is based on three main sources: (i) own-source revenue (local taxes and duties, fees for services, loans, donations and bequests, commercial facilities, etc.); (ii) transfers from the State budget (various grants and subsidies); and (iii) aid from external sources (bilateral and/or multilateral).

The budgetary system of local and regional authorities is based on the legislative and regulatory public finance legislation and on a set of texts specific to local and regional authorities, the most recent of which are the following: Decree 20190587/P-RM of 31 July 2019 on the financial system of local and regional authorities; Order 2020-0323/MEF-MATD-SG of 13 February 2020 establishing local and regional authorities’ spending before authorisation; Inter-ministerial Order 2020-2475/MEF-MATD-SG of 25 September 2020 establishing the budgetary nomenclature of local and regional authorities; Order 2020-2417/MEF-MATD-SG of 25 September 2020 establishing the local and regional authorities’ accounting plan.

The financial year starts on 1 January and ends on 31 December of the same year. Officials in the Ministry of Finance have control over revenues and how they are used. The presidents of the deliberative bodies of local and regional authorities are the authorising officers of the budget. A compulsory levy on the ordinary income of the budget is allocated to capital investment. Local and regional authorities may draw up an additional budget during the financial year when the accounts for the previous year are known. The additional budget shall be drawn up and voted on in the same way as the initial budget. It must be supported by the authorising officer’s administrative account and the paying agent’s revenue and spending account.

Mali has undertaken several initiatives towards budgeting for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the subnational government level. Similarly, since 2011, the country has adopted a National Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting Strategy (PBSG or Stratégie nationale de planification et de budgétisation sensible au genre) for the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting practices at the subnational government level.

In terms of citizen participation, the Code of Local and Regional Authorities states: “The vote on the budget shall be preceded by a public debate. This debate must cover the following points: (i) the state of implementation of the Economic, Social and Cultural Development Programme (PDSEC or Programme de développement économique, social et culturel); (ii) the administrative account for the past year; (iii) the state of operation of the bodies and services of the local or regional authority; (iv) the draft budget.

Subnational government expenditure by economic classification
2020	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total spending	62	2.6%	10.5%	100.0%
Current spending	53	2.3%	11.4%	86.9%
Staff spending	41	1.7%	27.9%	65.8%
Intermediate consumption	9	0.4%	17.1%	15.1%
Social spending	-	-	-	-
Subsidies and current transfers	1	0.1%	1.4%	1.8%
Financial charges (including interest)	-	-	-	-
Other current spending	3	0.1%	4.2%	4.2%
Capital spending	8	0.3%	7.1%	13.1%
Capital transfers	-	-	-	-
Direct investment (or GFCF)	8	0.3%	7.1%	13.1%

EXPENDITURE: In 2020, total subnational government spending per capita was USD 62 PPP per capita, or 2.6% of GDP and 10.5% of total public spending respectively. The positive trend in spending is mainly due to the strengthening of the National Fund for the Support of Local Authorities (FNACT), the creation of the Fund for Sustainable Development (FDD or Fonds pour le développement durable) and budget categories (for current and capital spending) being identified by the sectoral departments and progressively transferred to the local and regional authorities. The communes account for almost two-thirds of this spending and the regions for just over a third.

The vast majority of this spending consists of current spending, which account for 86.9% of subnational government spending. Current spending is dominated by staff costs and the spending on intermediate consumption, which account for 65.8% and 15.1% of subnational government spending respectively. This is because of the large size of the civil service in local and regional authorities. The civil service of local and regional authorities, which has been in place since 2006, currently has 63 946 staff, of whom 5 449 are in general administration, 54 461 in education, 225 in employment and vocational training and 3 811 in health and social development.

DIRECT INVESTMENT: In 2020, direct investment by local and regional authorities amounted to USD 8 PPP per capita, representing 0.3% of GDP, 7.1% of government spending and 13.1% of local and regional authority spending. These capital investments are mainly attributable to the communes and regions and consist exclusively of direct investment (FBCF).

In general, these direct investments by local and regional authorities remain dependent on the funding mechanisms put in place by the central government. The Local and Regional Authorities Investment Endowment (DIN or Dotation d'investissement des collectivités) of the National Fund for the Support of Local and Regional Authorities (FNACT), which is intended to finance investments made by local and regional authorities, has risen from CFAF 29.979 billion (~USD 141 million PPP) in 2018 to CFAF 20.075 billion (~USD 94 million PPP) in 2019, and will stabilise at CFAF 17.660 billion in 2020 (~USD 83.5 million PPP). These revenues were fuelled by significant contributions from Mali's various bi- and multilateral partners, which were stable over the period.

In addition to this system, in order to support the financing of investments under the control of local and regional authorities, in 2014 the Malian government also instituted State-region plan contracts. As of 2018, in accordance with one of the guiding principles of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali resulting from the Algiers process, this system has been strengthened by creating a Sustainable Development Fund to finance projects and programmes for the balanced development of all regions of Mali.

Local and regional authorities may also use public-private partnerships to improve the level of local investment. To do so, they may receive technical support through the public-private partnership unit, created by and attached to the prime minister’s office.

To ensure better coordination of public investment, several entities have been created. They are involved in the coordination and monitoring-evaluation of public investment at both the national and local and regional authorities’ level. These include: (i) the National Directorate for Development Planning (DNPD or Direction nationale de la planification du développement); (ii) the Regional Development Agencies (ADR or Agences de développement régional); and (iii) the National Agency for Investment in Local and Regional Authorities (ANICT or Agence nationale d'investissement des collectivités territoriales). Similarly, in order to sustain this regular dialogue and to ensure that interventions at the level of local and regional authorities are more consistent with national policy guidelines, several development planning tools and instruments have also been introduced.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

Mali has transposed Directive 01/2011/CM/UEMOA of 24 June 2011 on the financial system of local and regional authorities within WAEMU by adopting Decree 2019-0587/P-RM of 31 July 2019. In this context, the classification of spending by economic function at the level of local and regional authorities is gradually being introduced and will be required in the budgets from 2022.

However, according to the analysis of data based on the volume of sectoral transfers from the central government to local and regional authorities, taken from the finance laws, the education and health sectors are the main sectors of functional spending by local and regional authorities. In particular, spending in the education sector has increased significantly between 2018 and 2020 as a result of union pressure to grant autonomous status to teaching staff.

Subnational government revenue by category
2020	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total revenue	62	2.7%	12.6%	100.0%
Tax revenue	7	0.3%	2%	11.8%
Grants and subsidies	54	2.3%	-	86.1%
Tariffs and fees	1	0.1%	-	1.8%
Income from assets	0	-	-	0.3%
Other revenue	-	-	-	-

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: In 2020, local and regional authority revenues amounted to USD 62 PPP per capita. Transfers and subsidies granted to local and regional authorities by the central government and/or technical and financial partners are the main revenue source of local and regional authorities (86.1%). They have increased by around 6% between 2018 and 2020. These transfers and subsidies are essentially earmarked resources, limiting the room for manoeuvre of local and regional authorities. Revenues from external aid (bilateral and/or multilateral), regulated by several legislative and regulatory texts, in particular the decrees determining the terms of decentralised cooperation and cooperation between local and regional authorities in the Republic of Mali, are generally included in the transfers or subsidies granted to local and regional authorities.

Tax revenues are the second largest source of funding for local and regional authorities (11.8% of their total resources). They are slow to significantly evolve towards giving local and regional authorities real financial autonomy, despite the recommendations of several studies and actions to improve the efficiency of local taxation.

Non-tax revenues (fees for services, loans, donations and bequests, commercial facilities, etc.) and income from assets are governed by the law on the Code of Local and Regional Authorities and the decree on the financial system of local and regional authorities and its subsequent texts. They represent just over 2% of the total revenue of local authorities.

TAX REVENUE: In 2020, local and regional authorities' tax revenues amounted to USD 7 PPP per capita, representing 0.3% of GDP, 2% of total government revenues and 11.8% of local and regional authorities' revenues. These tax revenues are mainly from: (i) sales taxes with USD 5.1 PPP per capita, or 69.1% of local and regional authority revenues; (ii) personal income tax with USD 1.1 PPP per capita, or 15.4% of local and regional authority revenues; and (iii) excise duties with USD 1 PPP per capita, or 14.1% of local and regional authority revenues.

Despite the changes in the various legal and regulatory frameworks, local taxation in Mali is faced with significant budgetary and fiscal disparities. Mali’s local and regional authorities do not all have the same fiscal potential due to the lack of a tax base in many of them, notably in rural communes (particularly in the case of patents, licences and land tax). Moreover, the system of equalisation between local and regional authorities with high fiscal potential and those with low fiscal potential is very weak.

Faced with the challenges related to the collection of own-source revenue, which is an important tool for the financial autonomy of local and regional authorities and for the local development desired by the Malian State, several measures to support and strengthen the capacities of the actors in the fiscal chain have been put in place and supported by technical and financial partners, including GIZ, Swiss Cooperation, Lux-Dev, etc. However, these measures are still slow to bring about significant changes.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES: In 2020, grants and subsidies to local and regional authorities amounted to USD 54 per capita, representing 2.3% of GDP and 86.1% of their total revenue. They are the primary source of revenue for local and regional authorities and demonstrate their dependence on central government for funding. 85% of these grants are current grants, 15% are capital grants.

These grants and subsidies are heavily dependent on international grants. For example, in 2020, the contribution of the national budget to FNACT amounted to just over 3%, with almost 97% being provided by technical and financial partners.

OTHER REVENUE: In 2020, non-tax revenues (fees and charges and income from assets) accounted for 2.1% of the total revenues of subnational governments.

In Mali, local and regional authorities (or their groupings) can collect fees and charges in the following areas: (i) the sale of harvested forest products; (ii) fees and charges for the use of property (concessions, funeral/burial fees and charges, parking and road occupation charges, charges for petrol dispensers, water sales, occupancy permits, public lighting charges); and (iii) the provision of services (refuse collection fees, cultural services fees and charges, sports services fees and charges, health services fees and charges, administrative services fees and charges, social services fees and charges, extracurricular and educational services fees and charges, other fees and charges).

In general, the communes generate most of their income from occupancy permits and the issuing of civil status certificates, the cercles from the sale of forestry products and the regions from the right to stand at markets and fairs.

Subnational government fiscal rules and debt
	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government debt	% SNG debt	% SNG financial debt
Total outstanding debt	0	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Financial debt	0	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Currency and deposits	0	0.0%	0.0%	23.8%	23.8%
Bonds / debt securities	-	-	-	-	-
Loans	0	0.0%	0.0%	76.2%	76.2
Insurance, pensions	-	-	-	-	-
Other accounts payable	-	-	-	-	-

FISCAL RULES: According to Article 220 of Law 2017-051 of 02 October 2017 on the Code of Local and Regional Authorities, “the principle of budgetary balance aims to balance the revenue and spending accounts. The total spending must not exceed the total revenue”.

Local and regional authorities balance their budgets on an annual basis. According to the provisions of Decree 2019-0587/P-RM of 31 July 2019 which sets out the specific financial system of local and regional authorities, the budget of the local or regional authority must be approved in a true balance. The following conditions must be met: (i) revenues and spending must be evaluated in a sincere manner, without any omissions, increases or decreases; (ii) the repayment of capital debt must be covered exclusively by finalised revenues; (iii) the balance must be achieved for each section: the operating section and the investment section must both be balanced; (iv) operating revenues must be equal to or greater than operational spending. The excess operating revenue over spending of the same nature allows for the self-financing of a portion of capital spending; (v) all compulsory spending, properly assessed, must be included in the budget. Where the implementation of the budget for the last known financial year showed a deficit, the budget shall be deemed to be in balance only if it provides for the measures necessary to eliminate the deficit.

DEBT: In 2020, the total outstanding debt of local and regional authorities amounted to CFAF 4.2 million (~USD 20 000 PPP), made up of one quarter cash and deposits and three quarters loans.

As regards borrowing, local and regional authorities have relative autonomy. Indeed, the presidents of the deliberative bodies of local and regional authorities may receive authorisation from their council, in whole or in part and for the duration of their term of office, to contract loans and receive donations and bequests within the limits set by the council. However, for loans of more than one year, deliberations only become effective after approval by the representative of the State in the local or regional authority. The proceeds of authorised borrowings are used exclusively to finance investments.

Spending in the investment section as unforeseen spending (credit not exceeding 5% of the credits corresponding to the actual forecast spending in the section) and operating spending cannot be financed by borrowing.

Mali does not yet have a financial rating system for local and regional authorities. The central government does not provide any direct guarantee for the debt of local and regional authorities.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: To ensure that epidemics (COVID-19 and Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever) are properly managed, two coordination committees have been set up: the central coordination unit and the crisis committee for the management of the COVID-19 and Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever epidemics.

The Central Coordination Unit is chaired by the secretary general of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The crisis committee for the management of the COVID-19 and Crimea Congo epidemics is managed by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP or Institut national de santé publique). The crisis committee is multi-sectoral and is responsible for: (i) acting as a point of contact and advisor for both the administrative authorities and the population; (ii) holding regular meetings to review developments; (iii) working with medical teams to quarantine suspected cases and manage positive cases; and (iv) ensuring that the epidemic management unit is functional.

In the regions and cercles, the crisis and epidemic/disaster management committees are responsible for the coordination of preparedness and response actions. These committees were created as part of the Emergency Response Organisation Plan (ORSEC or Plan d'organisation des secours), adopted by the Government by Decree 2015-0889-P-RM of 31 December 2015, which is a regulatory document enabling the co-ordination of relief efforts under a single authority. Local and regional authorities are members of these various committees at the local and regional level.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT: On 18 March 2020, the government of Mali adopted a series of measures with immediate effect to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic, including: the suspension of commercial flights from affected countries, with the exception of cargo flights; the closure of public, private and faith-based schools (kindergarten, primary, secondary and higher education); the suspension of all public gatherings; the banning of social, sports, cultural and political gatherings of more than 50 people; and the closure of nightclubs and dance bars.

Additional measures include restrictions on public transport by reducing the number of passengers in vehicles; a ban by the Directorate General of Customs on the export and re-export of food products (rice, millet, sugar, milk, pasta, oil), masks, hydro-alcoholic gels, butane gas and livestock feed; and new opening and closing times for markets and shops.

These emergency measures which were taken at the national level were relayed by the administrative authorities at the level of the regions, cercles and arrondissements and put in place by the local and regional authorities with the support of the social and health services. They were complemented by an action plan for prevention and response, including epidemiological monitoring, patient transfer, strengthening of hygiene measures and funding for these emergency activities.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: The economic and social consequences of the pandemic have affected the macro-economic assumptions underlying the initial 2020 state budget and have led to a significant reduction in the economic growth forecast. The impact of the decline in economic activity on the initial 2020 state budget revenue is estimated at CFAF 225 billion (~USD 1 billion PPP), a contraction of over 10%, representing 2% of the GDP.

With financing provided by technical and financial partners amounting to CFAF 394 billion (~USD 1.8 billion PPP), 96% of which was general budget support (BOAD, AFD, FMI, BAD, WB) and 4% of which was project support, and the setting up of a fund intended to receive voluntary contributions from legal entities and individuals, the government of Mali was able to maintain its commitments to transfer funds to the local authorities.

The analysis of the 2020 (corrected) and 2021 (initial) Finance Acts shows a trend towards a strengthening of the State transfers. Between 2020 and 2021, these transfers have increased by almost 16%. Moreover, in the midst of the 2020 crisis, State transfers to local and regional authorities reached an implementation rate of 95.5%, significantly higher than the implementation rate in 2018 (78.4%) and 2019 (85.6%).

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: The resources mobilised by the government as part of its plan to respond to the pandemic are estimated to amount to CFAF 515 billion (~USD 2.4 billion PPP), almost 50% of which consists of measures to support the economy, businesses and households.

In the early stages of the crisis, household support measures included establishing a special fund for the most vulnerable families, free distribution of cereals and livestock feed, exemptions on rice and milk imports, VAT exemptions and free social security benefits on water and electricity bills. In support of businesses, tax rebates and the reduction of penalties resulting from tax audits have also been introduced.

In support of the economy, the private sector guarantee fund was strengthened and financial support was provided to the electricity (EDM) and water (SOMAGEP) sectors.