The Road to Reconciliation
Jonah Toay
Cast down from being a center of scholarship, trade, and fabulous wealth, Mali now exists as an afterthought to many foreign affairs analysts—a dusty country on the brink of the Sahel known mostly for its chaotic civil war in 2012. Despite its troubles since independence, its former colonial overlord, France, has neglected to assist in meaningful development despite profiting from their natural resources. Although France has been instrumental in repelling separatist factions, they must take an active role in ensuring a prosperous Mali. This future will not be achieved by the force of arms alone, but through developing the north’s infrastructure, reducing the risk of future insurrection.
Instability has come from the French colonial administration’s insistence that the nomadic Tuareg remain isolated from the powerful agricultural Mande peoples and bear the responsibility for the lawlessness that runs rampant. Historically, there has been a great rivalry and distrust between the two—Tuaregs relied greatly on raiding lands in present-day southern Mali and enslaving their occupants. (Lecocq) Forcing the two to live in the same state ensured that there would be ethnic competition between the two during and after independence. Furthermore, France’s military interventionism in North Africa has always led to the unintended consequence of fostering instability in the nations of the Sahel. When Islamist parties were poised to win the 1991 Algerian elections, the Algerian government decided to crack down on Islamists. This led to a bloody civil war in which France supported government forces. In this climate, previously-orthodox Islamist parties (not unlike the Muslim Brotherhood) were radicalized and even formed the predecessor to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb—one of Mali’s greatest security threats. To make matters worse, when France and other nations toppled Gaddafi in 2011, heavily armed Tuaregs, who made up the bulk of Gaddafi’s foreign mercenaries, flooded Mali with small arms and armor. With their newfound firepower, Tuareg separatists then had the power to overwhelm the central government in Bamako, leading to the great instability Mali has today. This combined with a lack of infrastructure creates a situation where exports like gold are stalled on the way to ports and common goods take weeks to get into Mali, fueling the demand for smugglers. This can be fixed with French support: France gives great amounts of foreign aid as a percentage of its budget and is often more than happy to intervene in their former colonies (for a price). Despite the fact that Mali is the most dangerous place for UN peacekeepers to get deployed and continues to be ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world, France gives more money to Turkey and Mexico than their former Sahelian economies. With the French Development Agency (AFD)’s large presence in the region, the implementation of providing more aid will be an easier task considering the benefits that could be reaped.
Groups like Ansar Dine and the Maghreb branch of Al-Qaeda make their home in the northern deserts not because that’s where their greatest sympathizers lay but because it is so detached from the world around it. Highways are difficult to build in the open desert so the communities that hug these roads are dependent on the little trade that occurs because of them. Unfortunately, due to the central government’s dismissal of the Tuaregs who live in the Sahara, road repairs are limited and locals are left to fend for themselves by turning to smuggling and other illicit activities. Similar to the 14th century, the Sahara is a crossroads of trade; only now this trade consists of smuggling small arms, drugs, and slaves. There remains a solution: the Trans-Saharan Highway stretching from Algiers to Abuja. This highway would connect the impoverished north to most of Africa’s thriving economies. Considering the possibilities of linking up the region’s cultural and financial hubs to a reliable paved road, the $287 million price tag is not much to consider for construction.
Opening up the north is not just a symbolic measure in connecting Mali’s conflicting ethnic groups; there are strong economic benefits for all once the Trans-Saharan highway is completed and maintained. More than half of the Malian economy relies on agriculture, but, due to the difficulties of transporting equipment, only 7% of arable land is plowed. An international highway would serve wonders by allowing farmers to access cheaper equipment from neighboring countries. Furthermore, the availability of fields would lower the costs for industrial farms to thrive, reducing the 29% malnourishment rate. Finally, the north holds untapped potential to become an energy producing powerhouse in both fossil fuels and renewable energy. Oil extraction in the Taoudeni Basin was previously thought to be impossible due to its remoteness, however a new highway would drive down costs. Even the desert sand dunes have the potential to create an energy surplus as the sun’s intensity is enough to make solar power a cheap and affordable way to create and also export electricity.
Surely, not only the French but the most developed nations funding the United Nations Development Programme could contribute enough capital to turn what’s considered a lawless wasteland into an economic powerhouse. In connecting the north, the disenfranchised could counter the overwhelming economic influence of the south, reducing the risk of further insurgency. France has the chance to make up for the decades of colonial disenfranchisement by developing infrastructure, and the great amount of growth potential leads one to question not if the French will invest but rather when.
The Great Mosque of Djenné in Djenné, Mali. The mosque is widely considered to be one of the great wonders of Africa and was built in the 14th century.
Works Cited
Lecocq, Baz. “The Bellah Question: Slave Emancipation, Race, and Social Categories in Late Twentieth-Century Northern Mali.” Canadian Journal of African Studies 39 no. 1 (2005): 42-68.