Turning the Tide Mali: Africa’s New Directions

Directed by Ousmahe Zorome Samassekou (2025)

Film Review

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/featured-documentaries/2025/2/12/turning-the-tide-mali-africas-new-directions

Mali has faced militant action from Tuareg separatists and Al Qaeda insurgents since the early 2000s.This led to three coups and the country is presently under military rule (the 2021 coup leader General Asimi Gorte  has become transitional president).

The 2012 coup coincided with the infiltration of northern Mali by Al Qaeda affiliated jihadists, leading to extreme instability. The Mali government was pressured to accept the installation of French troops to “combat terrorism.”

As terrorism only increased with the presence of French troops, Gorte has expelled them and turned to Russia for military assistance. This has greatly improved security.

Northern Mali, home to Tuareg separatists, has a  very spare population and hardly any government services (including schools). The filmmakers interview several Mali academics, who assertthe absence of jobs or productive activities contributes to lawlessness among the region’s young people.

Despite gaining political independence from France in 1960, Mali has never been allowed to profit from its rich natural resources (mainly oil, uranium, gold and diamonds). Contracts for resource extraction always favor France and other European countries. As in other resource-rich African countries, terrorist groups are always most active in resource-rich regions.

With security improved (terrorist activity continue, but at a much smaller scale) thanks to Russian military training and equipment, residents in northern Mali has resumed farming and fishing. Local communities play a crucial role in hosting displaced persons from areas of heavy fighting, with the Mali army helping to distribute food and water.