Mali: AES Federation: Expectations of economic operators in Mali

Malian businessmen confirmed that the creation of the organization offers numerous advantages to economic operators in the three countries. They called for the elimination of tariff barriers, the promotion of wheat cultivation and the normal circulation of medicines in the AES region.

In the heart of the Sahel, a new strategic dynamic emerged with the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) on July 6. Through this initiative, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger intend to pool their resources for sustainable development, based on their respective resources and a partnership that respects the sovereignty of the three countries. In the Niamey Declaration that marked the birth of the AES, the heads of state expressed their determination to ensure sustainable development through the implementation of endogenous economic and social policies. Even better, they expressed their common desire to prevent trade imbalances and maintain the confidence of economic actors.

What do Malian economic operators expect from this federation, which aims to promote economic and commercial exchanges and transform economic potential into tangible development results with a focus on endogenous development? People from the private sector spoke to our reporting team. At a meeting held at the Bamako International Conference Center (CICB), Cheick Hamalla Simpara, first vice-president in charge of trade at the National Employers’ Council of Mali (CNPM), expressed optimism: “What we expect at the institutional level is that the principals are in phase. We have a common ideal, a common vision, a common direction. In this case, I think a symbiosis is generated in this whole, which is coherent and linked by a common destiny.”

Cheick Hamalla Simpara believes that the AES alliance offers many benefits to the economic operators of the three countries. He suggests that in order to achieve ambitions in this area, the barriers that hinder commercial exchanges between the three countries must be eliminated. It is an open and complementary environment. The responsible must talk to each other, the economic operators must unite, pool their strengths, their goods and show that the competition is no longer between us, but between us and others.

With this ideal, we came together. This is conducive to expanding our consumer market, because the economy is linked to consumption, and consumption drives production. All in all, this is a great opportunity, the CNPM vice president stressed, economic entities in the three countries are in contact every day, but it is the institutions that lag behind. We have no concept of borders, because a person can own his shop in Burkina Faso and his house in Mali. This alliance gives us peace of mind, he said.

Comparative Advantages – Mamadou Lamine Hadara is the President of the Federation of Bakers and Pastry Chefs of Mali and President of the Bread Value Chain. He also suggested that tariff barriers be removed and a consultative framework be established between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Unilateral decisions must be made for the three countries because wheat is a scarce commodity. He suggested that we must intensify cultivation and take appropriate measures to accelerate the production and productivity of wheat cultivation.

Mamadou Yattassaye, president of the Malian Employers’ Organization of Industrialists, agrees, arguing that pooling the resources of these three countries (which face security challenges) to meet their needs can only be an opportunity for economic operators. Dr. Cheick Oumar Dia, president of the Union of Private Pharmacists, adds: “If I look at it from the perspective of therapeutic sovereignty, that is, the manufacture of medicines, I think it will be interesting when Mali produces a medicine that we can sell more easily in Burkina Faso and Niger, and vice versa.”

For the union member, the bottlenecks that often exist, related to tariff barriers and other aspects, must disappear. Thus, the federal system will allow drugs to circulate within the AES area without too many restrictions.
This is a comparative advantage vis-à-vis the global space of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which, although restricted today, allows for a good flow of medicines without many customs and other restrictions.

“This is a very important aspect,” commented the pharmacist. According to him, the annual cost of drug consumption in the three Member States exceeds 600 billion CFA francs. Therefore, if we could seize our therapeutic sovereignty by producing medicines and make all products unavoidable to import, it would be an added value, he said.
Dr. Cheick Oumar Dia praised this initiative of our leaders and said he is very optimistic that the AES will be expanded in the coming days. Our interlocutor urged that we must conduct a very deep analysis of all the limitations and advantages that we can gain from this alliance.

Coulibaly