Mali Financial Sector Assessment

Mali is a vast, land-locked country in
West Africa with a population of approximately 14.9 million,
and a GDP per capita of USD480. The economy is largely
rural, with over two-thirds of the population living off
agriculture, notably cotton. Gold is the country’s largest
export, though production has been declining and the
industry faces an uncertain future as proven reserves are
limited. The service sector, which represents 40 percent of
GDP, is dominated by trade and commerce. Mali’s dependence
on crops and gold makes it vulnerable to terms of trade
shocks. Industry, which employs just 3 percent of the active
population, consists largely of small-scale food processing
and textile plants. The overwhelming majority of the
population (over 90 percent) works in the informal sector.
The FSAP Development Module focused on: i) the banking
sector and legal framework (credit to the economy); ii)
microfinance; iii) agricultural finance; iv) insurance; and
v) housing finance2. The mission carried out in-depth
assessments on each topic and provided recommendations
aiming at mitigating financial vulnerabilities and
supporting the development of the financial sector (i.e.
development the credit to the economy while insuring
financial stability).