Experts from the road authorities of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will meet in Bamako from May 14 to 16, 2025, to define a common approach to road safety.
The banks of the Djoliba River will host a technical meeting with strong political implications. In the conference room of the Hotel de l’Amitie, representatives from the Ministries of Transport of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will begin a convergence exercise.
Three countries, one reality: deadly roads, failing regulatory systems and dwindling budgets.
The meeting, led by the Malian Ministry of Transport, takes place against a backdrop of a surge in accidents and their human and economic consequences.
The agenda includes the harmonization of national policies, data sharing, and cross-border coordination.
In 2024, according to official statistics, Mali recorded 7,673 road accidents, causing 8,828 injuries and 682 deaths, according to ANASER. Burkina Faso recorded 13,369 accident-related interventions, with 619 confirmed deaths.
In Niamey, the capital of Niger, the municipal police reported 5,124 accidents from January to October, causing 96 deaths and nearly 3,400 injuries. These figures, while already alarming, do not cover all rural areas, where incidents are rarely documented.
The human cost is compounded by an economic burden. The WHO Regional Office estimates that losses related to road accidents represent
between 2 per cent and 3 per cent of the GDP of sub-Saharan African countries.
For Mali, this represents a potential annual loss of over 400 billion CFA francs. Despite this, less than 0.5 per cent of the state budget is allocated to road safety.
The Bamako meeting aims to lay the foundations for a regional mechanism for concerted action.
Among the avenues explored are the harmonization of traffic laws, cross-training of enforcement officers, the sharing of accident databases, and the launch of coordinated regional campaigns.
Niger is already testing a digital accident geolocation system, which Mali and Burkina Faso could adopt.
Chaired by the Malian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Dembele Madina Sissoko, the session is also an opportunity to discuss the role of the AES in social policies.
In most cases, accident victims do not benefit from any insurance coverage. The AES could propose a sub-regional platform for managing emergency assistance and compensation.
Beyond the figures, it is human realities that drive technicians to action. No institutional discourse can justify the lack of a coordinated response if the toll continues to worsen. The Bamako conference, while not decisive, constitutes a full-scale test of the AES’s ability to translate its military solidarity into civic action.
MD/Sf/ac/fss/gik/APA