Mali

Mali A landlocked country in western Africa, it was penetrated by the French towards the end of the nineteenth century, until it was made a French colony in 1880. Known as French Soudan from 1920, it received autonomy as a member of the French Community, and on 22 September 1960 it became independent, following the collapse of a two-month political union with Senegal. It became a one-party state under Modibo Keita (b. 1915, d. 1977), whose socialist policies plunged the country into an economic crisis and made him unpopular. He tried to secure his position through imprisoning his opponents and purging the state machinery of potential rivals, which triggered a military coup against him on 19 November 1968. His successor, Moussa Traoré (b. 1936), failed to revive or restructure the economy, which continued to depend on large-scale foreign aid. Most significantly, he was reluctant to reduce an overblown public sector which consumed 60 per cent of all state expenditure, for fear of alienating the urban elites. He was confirmed in office in a number of rigged elections. In in the late 1980s his position became increasingly fragile, as he was forced to introduce unpopular economic austerity measures by the IMF.

Traoré was deposed on 25 March 1991, and a transitional government headed by General Amadou Toumani Toure devised a new Constitution in 1992. The Alliance pour la Démocratie au Mali–Parti Africain pour la Solidarité et la Justice (Alliance for Mali Democracy–African Party for Solidarity and Justice) won the ensuing elections. Its leader, Alpha Oumar Konaré, introduced a series of measures to liberalize the economy. This yielded some moderate economic growth, but more importantly it qualified the country for some debt relief from international creditors by almost $900 million in 2000. Under Konaré, a multi-party system was established, but the 2002 elections nevertheless were held under allegations of electoral irregularities.