Reforming at the low point - Mali’s 2013 EITI Report

Mali’s government received almost USD 450 million in revenues from the extractive industry in 2013. This represents a 20% fall in revenue from mining companies on 2012 levels, mainly due to a decline in production and the sharp decrease in gold prices. Amidst lower income from the sector, Mali is pursuing more openness and reform.

Details of sub-contractors

The inclusion of sub-contractors’ payments is of particular importance given that it is often only the sub-contractors who engage with the mine-affected communities. Also, as 10% of total government revenues come from the sector, the fiscal contribution from sub-contractors is significant.

Information on the artisanal and small-scale mining sector

The 2013 report provides the description of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector (ASM), which has proven resilient to lower commodity prices. With better oversight of ASM licenses since 2012 and the operation of provincial state-owned buying houses (comptoirs d’achat), small-scale gold production has remained constant at around 4 tons per year in recent years according to the Chamber of Mines. The government has disclosed income from its 101 provincial buying houses in its unilateral reporting.

Information on the owners of companies  

The report includes details of the legal owners of companies. 13 of the 18 reporting companies disclosed the identity of their ultimate share-holders.

It has also reconciled the production figures of the National Directorate of Geology and Mines and companies.  This has helped identify any discrepancies in their figures and recommendations for improvements.  

The report also includes details of both mandatory and voluntary social spending from five companies.

Recommending reforms

Although ensuring full company participation and robust data quality remain challenging areas of implementation in Mali, the 2013 EITI Report is a major step forward in producing meaningful and accessible data for citizens in the country’s resource-rich districts.

The EITI Report recommends better implementation of the General Tax Code for companies. Other notable recommendations concern improvements to the mining cadastre, revisions to the confidentiality clauses of production sharing contracts, and the quality assurance system for government data.

Using the EITI to inform the on-going reforms in the sector; trying to produce more of the data through the government’s on-going systems rather than a separate EITI exercise; and co-ordinating ministries’ efforts, will all be key in improving governance in the sector. 

Read the full Mali 2013 EITI Report (PDF) 

To find out more about the EITI in Mali, visit the country page on eiti.org or Mali's EITI website.