Malian cotton farmers are set to produce a bumper crop this year, but Mahamadou Konate is worried, belying the smile he wears as he paces through his field.
Economic and diplomatic sanctions recently imposed on the poor, conflict-torn Sahel state threaten one of its few economic motors: the cotton sector.
Mali has traditionally been one of Africa’s leading cotton producers. During growing season, the cash crop blankets swathes of the vast country in white. Locals call cotton “white gold”.
“If they sanction us, how are we going to sell our cotton abroad?” asks Konate, standing in the middle of one of his fields.
Earlier this month, the West African bloc ECOWAS imposed a trade embargo and shut borders with Mali over delayed elections in the country.
West African leaders also halted financial aid to Mali and froze the country’s assets at the Central Bank of West African States.
The move followed a proposal by Mali’s junta, which seized power in August 2020, to stay in…
Source: Guardian Newspaper
