Mali forbids French-backed NGOs from operating as Germany prepares to leave by May 2024

In response to an escalating dispute between Paris and Bamako, Mali’s junta placed a ban on the operations of NGOs sponsored or supported by France, including humanitarian organizations.

In a post on social media, the nation’s temporary prime minister, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, defended the action as a reaction to France’s recent suspension of development assistance for Mali.

The French foreign ministry announced last week that it had concluded Bamako’s suspected deployment of paramilitaries from the Russian outfit Wagner, three months after concluding its withdrawal of anti-jihadist soldiers from the nation.

“Fanciful claims” and “subterfuge aimed to confuse and manipulate national and international public opinion to destabilize and isolate Mali” were mentioned by Maiga in his statement.

The interim administration stated that as a result, “any operations carried out by NGOs operating in Mali with financing, material, or technical support from France, particularly in the humanitarian area, have been decided to be banned, with immediate effect.”

A source in the foreign ministry last week said that France will continue to fund “civil society organizations” in Mali as well as provide humanitarian help.

Germany, the newest nation to declare its departure from the Mali-afflicted nation, will remove its soldiers from the UN peacekeeping operation by May 2024, a German government official added on Tuesday.

According to a statement from government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, the government would recommend to parliament that Germany’s involvement in the MINUSMA operation be extended “in May 2023 for the last time by a year, to bring this mission to a planned end after 10 years.”

Following discussions between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition allies, the Greens and liberal FDP, he noted that the decision had specifically taken into account Mali’s anticipated elections in February 2024.

As part of the MINUSMA mission, the German military has been present in Mali since 2013, with up to 1,400 soldiers primarily stationed close to Gao in the north.

However, they have recently encountered more challenges and have frequently been forced to halt reconnaissance patrols due to the junta’s denial of flyover privileges.

The suspected entrance of Wagner agents from Russia to boost government forces has led to rising tensions between the UN mission and Mali’s military leadership.