Mali has secured CFA 36.07 billion (approximately USD 60 million) in financing from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to reinforce the electricity infrastructure of its capital, Bamako, as part of a broader effort to stabilize a power system under severe strain.
The financing, structured in accordance with Islamic finance principles, will fund the construction of the 225 kV Northern Loop, a high-voltage transmission project designed to increase the capacity, reliability, and resilience of Bamako’s electricity network. Unlike conventional power projects, this operation excludes electricity generation and focuses exclusively on transmission and distribution, addressing one of the most critical bottlenecks in Mali’s power sector.
Under Islamic finance rules, the IsDB does not provide interest-bearing loans. Instead, the financing is asset-backed and project-specific, relying on Sharia-compliant instruments such as Istisna’a (construction financing) and Ijara (leasing of completed assets). This structure ties disbursements directly to the delivery of physical infrastructure, limiting fiscal slippage while ensuring that funds are used strictly for the grid expansion.
The strategic objective of the project is to enable Bamako to better absorb electricity from regional interconnections, particularly those linked to the Senegal River Basin, where hydropower facilities supply energy across several West African countries. While Mali is theoretically well positioned within regional power pools, weak and saturated transmission infrastructure has long prevented the capital from fully benefiting from imported electricity.
The agreement was officially approved by Mali’s Council of Ministers on December 31, 2025, just one month after the approval of an additional USD 68.26 million financing package by the African Development Bank (AfDB). Combined, these commitments form part of a project whose total cost is estimated at USD 190 million, underscoring the scale of investment required to modernize Mali’s aging grid.
Project implementation and supervision will be handled by the state-owned utility Energie du Mali (EDM-SA). The works include the construction of new 225 kV transmission lines, the expansion of existing substations, and the development of new strategic substations around Bamako to improve redundancy and reduce technical losses.
Mali’s electricity crisis is often framed as a lack of generation capacity, but the reality is more structural. Frequent power outages in Bamako stem not only from limited supply but also from grid weakness, poor evacuation capacity, and high dependence on climate-sensitive hydropower. Even when electricity is available at the regional level, the capital has struggled to receive it reliably.
By prioritizing transmission rather than generation, the 225 kV Northern Loop aims to unlock existing regional capacity, stabilize supply, and reduce load shedding in the short to medium term. The project thus represents a strategic shift: addressing the silent constraint of infrastructure that, until now, has undermined Mali’s ability to secure dependable electricity for its economic and urban growth.
This initiative fits into a wider program to modernize Mali’s energy sector, where restoring confidence in the grid has become as critical as adding new megawatts.
