Mali: a country of substancial challenges holds elections

On July 29th Mali will hold elections in an atmosphere of terror in the north, ethnic tensions in the center of the country, high unemployment and a rapidly growing population.

Instability settled in Mali in 2012, with the Tuareg insurgency, seized by Islamic extremists to control key cities in the north of the country. These groups were expelled by the French-led military operation in 2013, but large areas of the country remain out of control of Malian and international forces, which are often targeted by attacks.

In the center of Mali we have witnessed, mainly in the last 2 years confrontations between Fula people and dogon, where despite the coexistence between the 2 ethnic groups, the tensions have been significantly increasing. The Fulanic, nomadic breeders of cattle, were recently accused of being accomplices to jihadism. Ethnic violence overlaps with jihadist terrorism in Mali.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita faces more than a dozen candidates, being the main opponent Soumaila Cissé. These elections occur at a time when people, especially the young population, have shown a great dissatisfaction with the results and failed promises presented by the Malian political class. Employment is scarce in Mali. The country ranks 175th among the 188 States in the United Nations Development Index. Above all, young people - 66% of the 18 million people under the age of 25 - complain about poor education and lack of opportunities.

President Keita points out that he has managed to bring Mali to a  much higher level of development since he defeated Cissé in 2013, highlighting progress in agriculture and road construction.

However, supporters of opposition candidate Soumaila Cissé doubt the transparency of the elections. Moreover, it is not yet clear what the voters' participation in the north of the country will be due to the lack of security.

If no candidate gets an absolute majority next Sunday, there will be a second round, on August 12.

Reference also to Zimbabwe which will hold historic elections next Monday July 30. We will talk about this subject on another occasion.