Mali’s growing debt crisis surrounding the Manantali dam has reached a critical point, with the country owing over $94 million to the managing entity, SOGEM.
This financial burden threatens the continued operation of the dam, which also powers Senegal and Mauritania.
The 2002-built Manantali dam, with an installed capacity of 200 megawatts, provides a significant portion of Mali’s electricity, with 33% allocated to Senegal and 15% to Mauritania.
Mali is now in arrears of 54 billion CFA francs ($94.12 million), according to a letter from SOGEM seen by Reuters.
SOGEM’s director-general, Mohamed Mahmoud Sid’Elemine, warned that the debt has become “a question of life or death” for both the dam’s operations and the regional energy project.
The situation is further exacerbated by ongoing electricity shortages, which have already strained Mali’s public support for the military government in power since the 2021 coup.
Energie du Mali, the country’s state-owned utility, confirmed its debt to SOGEM but pointed to significant delays in SOGEM’s other projects, which have disrupted Mali’s energy sector.
To offset power shortages, the utility has been forced to rent costly private generators.
The Manantali dam was hailed as a triumph of regional cooperation, with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger benefiting from the project, which cost hundreds of billions of CFA francs.
However, the mounting debt and delays now threaten its sustainability and Mali’s energy future.
