Mali's Economy
Mali’s economy is the 103rd freest in the 2019 Index. Mali is ranked 12th among 47 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. The government is encouraging diversification, but a fragile security situation, inadequate infrastructure, and financial and governmental capacity constraints hinder progress.
More efforts are needed to address endemic corruption. Rigid labor regulations hurt job growth, and lack of access to finance deters investment.
Mali has an underdeveloped economic sector that is reliant on agriculture. In particular, it is dependent on farming, fishing, livestock-raising, and mining.
Import and export sector are also priced economic sectors.
Rule of Law
Regulatory Efficiency
Goverment Size
Property rights are not adequately protected. The judicial system is nominally independent but inefficient and vulnerable to political influence.Progress in implementing anticorruption reforms is slow, and corruption remains a problem throughout the government, public procurement, and in both public and private contracting.
The top individual income tax rate is 40 percent, and the top corporate tax rate is 35 percent. Other taxes include a value-added tax. The overall tax burden equals 17.6 percent of total domestic income
Despite some progress, the regulatory framework is not conducive to much-needed economic diversification or private-sector development. Labor regulations, although not fully enforced, are relatively rigid.
Open Markets
The combined value of exports and imports is equal to 63.1 percent of GDP. The average applied tariff rate is 7.6 percent.In general, Mali encourages foreign investment, but widespread bureaucratic inefficiency hinders dynamic private-sector growth.
Mali's Language
Native Languages of Mali
Mali is a multilingual country whose official language is French. It also has a deaf population which uses sign language to communicate.
French Language in Mali
French is the language used in government and in teaching the school curriculum in the education sector. In its use in schools, there is a new policy which demands that Malian languages should be used to teach students in their first grades. Thereafter, they can transition from the indigenous languages to French. French is mostly spoken by people who live in the urban centers. In most scenarios, French speaking Malians acquire it as a second language.
There are several Malian ethnic groups namely Mande, Fula, Voltaic (Senufo/Bwa), Tuareg/Moor, and Songhai among others. There are 13 national languages spoken in Mali. They include Bambara, Soninke, Hasanya Arabia, Bomu, Tamasheq, Songhay, Fulfulde, Bozo, Maninkakan, Dogon, Syenara, Mamara, and Xasongaxango. Besides the national languages, the Ethnologue has a record of 63 languages that are spoken in Mali.
Sign Language
The deaf population in Mali used sign language to communicate with each other. They also use sign language to acquire formal education. There are three types of sign languages used in Mali: American Sign Language (ASL), Tebul Sign Language, and Bamako Sign Language.