International donors pledged a much more than expected 3.2 billion euros ($4.18 billion) in aid Wednesday to help Mali avoid the mistakes which allowed Islamist rebels to seize vast swathes of the troubled country.
The meeting, co-hosted by the European Union and France, Mali’s former colonial ruler, had an initial target of two billion euros ($2.6 billion) to cover about half the cost of a 2013-14 economic and political reconstruction programme agreed in cooperation with the international community.
But French President Francois Hollande said donors had been much more generous in view of the issues at stake in Mali, where rebels linked to Al-Qaeda threatened to capture the capital Bamako early this year before French military intervention forced them back.
“More than 3.25 billion euros has been mobilised at this conference,” he said.
“We are showing that we can unify around a cause which concerns us all, Europe and Africa,” Mr Hollande told the more than 100 delegations.
“The terrorist groups in the north believed that they owned the place,” he said, with France deciding to intervene because the rebels “had decided to conquer all of Mali and were looking even further afield.”
Ultimately, the rebels “directly threatened the security of Europe,” said Mr Hollande, who was in Brussels as well for discussions with the European Union on the faltering French economy.
The president warned also that the problem has not ended with French intervention, insisting that Mali must live up to its commitments to hold elections in July and to promote national reconciliation.
Mali President Dioncounda Traore echoed those points, saying the crisis predated the problems of 2012 and stemmed from the country’s economic and political failings.
“We must not mistake the consequences for the cause,” Mr Traore said. “We cannot hide our head in the sand.”
Delegates made similar remarks through the day, highlighting the importance of the July polls in restoring democratic rule in the west African country.
NMG
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