Mali

The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a military coup - led by the current president Amadou TOURE - enabling Mali's emergence as one of the strongest democracies on the continent. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first democratic presidential election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, KONARE stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE, who was subsequently elected to a second term in 2007. The elections were widely judged to be free and fair.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: West African CFA franc (ISO code: XOF)
 * Central bank discount rate: 4.25% (31 December 2009)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2009 )
 * Stock of money (M1): $1.559 billion (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $561 million (31 December 2008)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1987-1989

Links

 * Mali on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Mali
 * Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
 * BBC country profile