Africa-Press. Mali plans to establish a fully state-owned company to manage its holdings in mining companies, the Council of Ministers announced.
According to a statement from the Malian authorities, the new entity, “Sopamim,” wholly owned by the state, will acquire and manage Mali’s stakes in those companies, Reuters reported.
Mali is one of Africa’s largest gold producers, hosting miners such as Barrick Gold, B2Gold, Resolute Mining, Endeavour Mining and Hummingbird Resources, particularly in gold-rich western and southern regions.
Other resource-producing West African countries, including Niger and Guinea, manage their assets through similar state-owned mechanisms.
In 2022, Mali created another state-owned firm, “Sorem,” to explore and develop mineral resources.
In 2023, Mali’s ruling military authorities introduced a new mining code that raised the combined ownership share of the state and local authorities in mines from 20% to at least 35%.
The new law also boosted tax collection, helping increase government revenue from gold mining companies by 52.5% in 2024.
Last month, Mali appointed a former Barrick executive as a special adviser to the presidency to oversee the mining sector.
Mining companies’ arrears
Mali’s finance ministry said late last year it had recovered more than $1 billion in arrears owed by mining companies, in one of the largest recovery operations in the country’s mining sector.
Finance Minister Alousséni Sanou said the move followed a comprehensive review launched in early 2023 that uncovered major financial gaps. That review paved the way for a new mining code that raises state fees, increases the government’s equity share in companies, and removes “stability” clauses that had limited the government’s ability to amend contracts.
Mali expects the new measures to lift annual revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars. The renegotiation committee says the goal is not only to recover funds, but also to strengthen the state’s share in future mining contracts.
The move is seen as a shift in the relationship between the state and foreign companies operating in the sector, as authorities seek fairer terms and a larger benefit from the country’s mineral wealth.
