BAMAKO, Mali
The government of Tanzania has at last restored
publication license to four ‘critical’ newspapers which had been banned for
various professional reasons according to the government.Mali's head of the military junta Colonel Assimi Goita in Accra, Ghana, on September 15, 2020.
Mali's ruling military junta has appeared
unflinching so far in the face of economic sanctions imposed a month ago by the
country's West African neighbours, despite indications the measures are
beginning to bite.
In response to the junta postponing promised
elections following 2020's coup, the Economic Community of West African States
(Ecowas) imposed a trade embargo and closed borders with Mali, in a move backed
by France, the United States and the European Union.
Ecowas leaders also halted financial aid and
froze Mali's assets at the Central Bank of West African States.
The measures followed a proposal from Mali's junta
to stay in power for up to five years before staging elections -- despite an
earlier commitment to hold a vote on February 27.
Mali's military rulers have remained firm, and
appear to enjoy popular support, despite the sanctions beginning to have an
effect in one of the world's poorest countries.
In one of the first tangible consequences of the
measures, Mali defaulted on debt repayments worth more than $30 million in late
January.
Many ordinary Malians also told AFP that they have
seen price rises since the imposition of sanctions, even though the measures do
not apply to basic necessities.
"I'm buying fewer onions and less oil, even
though that's what we cook the most," said Mame Koita, a 46-year-old
mother of four, in front of a market stall in the capital Bamako.
Swathes of Mali's territory lie outside of
government control due to a brutal jihadist insurgency that first emerged in
2012, and has long hampered economic growth.
Mariam Diakite, who launched a consumer association
last year, said that the current situation for ordinary Malians is "really
pitiful".
"The sanctions add to an already existing
situation," she told AFP.
Landlocked Mali imports about 70 percent of its
food, according to the UN, meaning its trade links with the neighbouring
coastal states of Senegal and Ivory Coast are crucial.
Both countries are Ecowas members that have
shut their borders to Mali.
Yet there has been little public criticism of the
authorities, despite the potentially crippling effect of the sanctions.
After the Malian junta called for protests last
month, large crowds across the country took to the streets to protest the
sanctions.
The junta, for its part, has argued that the
sanctions are illegal and illegitimate.
On Monday, Interim Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla
Maiga called the sanctions "unjust and savage measures".
He added that their purpose is to overthrow Mali's
government on behalf of "we know who" -- a thinly veiled reference to
former colonial power France, whose relationship with Mali has deteriorated
sharply since the military takeover.
The sanctions imposed in January are the not the
first applied to Mali in recent years.
In 2020, Ecowas also imposed a trade embargo
after the army deposed elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
But it lifted the measures after the junta agreed
to hold an election and restore civilian rule in February 2022 -- a commitment
on which the junta has since reneged.
Owing to a lack of hard figures and a reluctance
among experts to talk publicly, the impact of the sanctions to date remains
unclear.
But there are indications that consumer prices are
beginning to rise.
The government recently capped the prices of basics
such as rice, vegetable oil and sugar, for example.
And public television has carried broadcasts of
government agents performing market raids to enforce the rules.
"I would like to reassure my compatriots that
stocks of basic necessities are sufficient, more than sufficient," Trade
Minister Mahmoud Ould Mohamed said recently.
Many in Mali are blaming price rises on
gougers.
The National Union of Workers of Mali, one of the
country's largest, recently stated that some traders are seeking to "get
rich on the misfortunes of the people".
However, Bamako wholesaler Mouhamadou Bagayoko said
that he has raised prices out of commercial necessity.
"Scarcity leads to an increase in the price of
raw materials, it's not our fault, it's everyone's fault," he told
AFP.
One social scientist, who declined to be named
because of the sensitivity of the issue, said there is little reliable data on
recent inflation.
"We can only look at the external signs to
understand what is going on," he said. - AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment