According to journalist and consultant Keita Idrissa, the creation of a new Ministry to oversee Mali\u2019s mining sector reflects a deliberate political and economic shift by the country\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis decision is as political as it is economic,\u201d Idrissa said. \u201cBy placing the mining sector under direct presidential oversight, the authorities are signalling that gold revenues are now a matter of state sovereignty rather than routine administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Assimi Go\u00efta has established a new ministerial post dedicated to supervising the mining sector, a strategic pillar of Mali\u2019s economy, in a move that strengthens direct presidential control over the country\u2019s gold industry.<\/p>\n
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The reform removes key oversight powers from the Ministry of Mines and places them under a new structure closely linked to the presidency. Hilaire Bebian Diarra, a former Senior Executive at Canadian mining group Barrick Mining, has been appointed to lead the new portfolio.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Diarra will be responsible for shaping mining policy, ensuring compliance with the mining code and reviewing reports submitted by licence holders, responsibilities previously held by the Ministry of Mines.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Idrissa said the move signals the authorities\u2019 intention to tighten oversight of extractive revenues and reinforce state authority over strategic resources.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state wants greater visibility and control over how gold revenues are generated and managed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He cautioned, however, that centralising control within the Presidency could raise governance concerns if transparency and institutional checks are weakened.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe success of this reform will depend on whether stronger control is matched by accountability and clear rules,\u201d Idrissa said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gold remains Mali\u2019s most important export and a key source of public revenue, making the mining sector central to the country\u2019s economic and political strategy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22824,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-22823","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The creation of a new Ministry to oversee Mali\u2019s mining sector reflects a deliberate political and economic shift","published_date":"2026-01-23 19:18:14","news_description":"The creation of a new Ministry to oversee Mali\u2019s mining sector reflects a deliberate political and economic shift","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25994,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22823\/revisions\/25994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=22823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}