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Mali is under mounting pressure to settle a debt exceeding $94 million owed to the organisation managing the Manantali dam—a key regional power source for Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania—according to a letter obtained by Reuters. The letter warns that the unpaid amount poses a critical threat to the dam’s continued operation.
The growing financial shortfall could further worsen Mali’s electricity supply challenges, which have already caused widespread discontent under the country’s military-led government. Frequent power outages have strained public patience since successive coups in 2020 and 2021.
Operational since 2002, the Manantali dam and hydroelectric plant has a capacity of 200 megawatts. Over half of the energy it produces is allocated to Mali, with Senegal receiving 33 percent and Mauritania 15 percent.
In a letter dated 25 April, the Société de Gestion de l’Énergie de Manantali (SOGEM), which oversees the dam and related infrastructure, stated that Mali owed more than 54 billion CFA francs—roughly $94.12 million. The letter, addressed to the director-general of Mali’s national electricity provider, Energie du Mali (EDM), described the situation as dire.
“It is now a question of life or death for our installations and for SOGEM,” wrote the organisation’s director-general, Mohamed Mahmoud Sid’Elemine.
In a response to Reuters, EDM confirmed it owed 43.8 billion CFA francs to SOGEM, along with an additional 11.9 billion CFA francs to another body responsible for the dam’s operation and maintenance.
When asked why the payments had not been made, EDM cited major delays in SOGEM’s energy projects, including other dams, which it said had severely impacted Mali’s energy sector. As a result, EDM explained, it was forced to turn to expensive alternatives such as renting power generators from private firms.
Despite the current difficulties, SOGEM highlighted the Manantali project as a prime example of successful regional cooperation, noting the considerable investment—totalling hundreds of billions of CFA francs—put into its development.
Mali, along with Burkina Faso and Niger, is a member of the Alliance of Sahel States. Last year, the three nations announced their departure from ECOWAS, the West African regional economic and political bloc.
