Mali, Côte d'Ivoire & Mauritania
Mali loses main harbour outlet; Abidjan

afrol News, 27 September - Land-locked Mali has one principal harbour outlet; the Ivorian city of Abidjan. Now, the main truck route is intercepted by armed rebels, controlling the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire. Large quantities of Malian perishable goods are already stuck in Côte d'Ivoire.

Malian truck drivers face a 1200 kilometres journey transporting their country's export goods from the capital Bamako to the Ivorian major port city of Abidjan. It is not the shortest, but the fastest route to the ocean. Unfortunately, the Bamako-Abidjan connection on midway passes through Ouangolodougou, Ferkessédougou and Bouaké; towns and cities held by mutinying Ivorian soldiers.

According to the Malian Shippers Council, some 238 truckloads of perishable goods are currently stuck in Côte d'Ivoire due to the rebellion in the southern neighbour country. The Council was trying to arrange for the return of the truck to divert them to another port. Also the ships sent to Abidjan to carry on the Malian goods had to be diverted.

Due to the good road and train connection, Abidjan has developed into Mali's main harbour outlet. According to UN media, Abidjan is making an annual turnover of US$ 208,455 with Malian goods passing through the city's port. Côte d'Ivoire until recently also has been blessed with political stability, making the Bamako-Abidjan route a secure one.

Abidjan however never has been Mali's only harbour outlet. An equally good, but longer, road connects Bamako with the industrial harbour of Tema in Ghana (also passing through Burkina Faso) and Lomé in Togo or Cotonou in Benin. These ports - in particular Lomé - are destined to become Mali's new main outlets. 

The western ports in Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania are however closer. Conakry (Guinea) is Mali's closest port, some 950 kilometres by road west of Bamako. The very bad road conditions between Seguiri (Guinea) and Bamako and Guinean bureaucracy however make the route time-consuming.

Mali's ancient main harbour, Dakar (Senegal) is at 1250 kilometres from Bamako. Road conditions have however become terrible with time - especially on the Malian side of the border - and the formally proud Dakar-Bamako rail service has become almost equally time-consuming (especially on the Senegalese side of the border). Security is however high and Dakar port facilities are modern, making the Senegalese capital one of Mali's principal outlets.

While security on the Bamako-Abidjan route has decreased over the last years and poorer road conditions make Dakar and Conakry less attractive, the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott has become a new favourite among Malian truck drivers. The 1,500-kilometre Bamako-Nouakchott route goes northwards from Bamako to Néma in south-western Mauritania - a road of limited quality - but the Néma-Nouakchott "Trans-Mauritanian highway" (around 1,000 kilometres) is easily managed.

Traffic from Mali to Nouakchott has become easier and cheaper due to less bureaucracy and checkpoints on the road. A new Malian-Mauritanian harbour cooperation was inaugurated earlier this year, with the opening of 12.000 m2 of warehouses for Malian products in the Nouakchott harbour. Nouakchott further is the regional harbour closest to Europe; Mali's major trade partner.

Land-locked Mali however has invested little in overland infrastructure to connect to sea outlets - only the Bamako-Abidjan route is good on both sides of the border. The connections to Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania are in a poor state only on the Malian side of the border - making the country too dependent on the Abidjan harbour.

Also for Côte d'Ivoire, the Malian transit trade has become a lucrative business. The Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abou Drahamane Sangare, visited Bamako on Friday to meet President Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali. He told reporters the economic problems Mali was facing as a result of the 19 September revolt in Côte d'Ivoire would be resolved shortly.

Sources: Based on West African govts, UN sources and afrol archives 

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