By Sanna Camara

The energy supply deficit in Mali is a growing concern for development experts, as country grapples with high energy poverty that forces majority of its rural population to rely on fossil fuel sources for basic needs like daily cooking for tens of thousands of households.

The African Energy Summit held in Tanzania in January this year had identified major energy challenges for Mali, a country whose overall access rate stands at 56 per cent – 87 per cent of which are in urban areas while 31 remain in rural communities, where dependence on firwood for daily cooking and heating are a way of life for so many.

Local NGOs said this disparity forces many rural communities to rely on biomass, such as firewood —accounting for 64% of the country’s fuel consumption – a situation that contributes to deforestation and environmental degradation, exacerbating the impacts of climate change.

The Africa Development Bank says Mali’s energy infrastructure remains underdeveloped, with a total installed capacity of 904 MW for a population of 23.77 million people and one the largest countries in the world. At 1,240,192 square kilometres, Mali is the 24^th-largest country in the world and the eighth-largest country in Africa.

However, development partners agree that the unreliable electrical grid is the main barrier to the development of the country, not least its mining sector, which is one of Mali’s most important industries.

The country’s energy mix is dominated by thermal power (54%), with solar energy making very minimal contribution at 3%. Hydroelectricity is at 34%, while regional interconnections (9%), including the Guinea-Mali Power Interconnection Project aiming to connect 225 kilovolt transmission line and 95 localities, benefiting some 175, 000 people.

That is just one of its current flagship initiatives expected to be completed by December 2025. There is also its mini hydroelectric power plants development harnessing a 7.5-Megawatt hydroelectric capacity connecting 22 localities and further benefiting 15,000 people.

There’s also a focus on Mopti region (Mali-Mauritania Power Interconnection) that is targeting 50 new localities, with 20,000 new connections and benefiting 120,000 people.

Mali is endowed with plentiful solar and hydro potential, and according to the International Trade Administration, energy sector development remains a priority for the Malian transition government.

“Energie du Mali (EDM), the state-owned electric utility, is poorly managed and heavily subsidized by the government and financed by regional multinational banks, as the relatively high price of its electricity (average $0.16/kWh) is insufficient to cover the cost of production and distribution ($0.24/kWh),” it stated in June 2024 publication on Mali.

Brownouts and load shedding are increasingly common, as electricity demand grows at about 10 percent per year. This is far outpacing piecemeal increases in supply.  Many companies resort to onsite generators to power their activities, even though this is an expensive solution that is difficult to execute at scale.

The author is a West African energy journalist that is focused on energy poverty, transition and security for the African continent.