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Mali is a vast, land-locked country in West Africa with a population of approximately 14.9 million, and a GDP per capita of USD480. The economy is largely rural, with over two-thirds of the population living off agriculture, notably cotton. Gold is the country’s largest export, though production has been declining and the industry faces an uncertain future as proven reserves are limited. The service sector, which represents 40 percent of GDP, is dominated by trade and commerce. Mali’s dependence on crops and gold makes it vulnerable to terms of trade shocks. Industry, which employs just 3 percent of the active population, consists largely of small-scale food processing and textile plants. The overwhelming majority of the population (over 90 percent) works in the informal sector. The FSAP Development Module focused on: i) the banking sector and legal framework (credit to the economy); ii) microfinance; iii) agricultural finance; iv) insurance; and v) housing finance2. The mission carried out in-depth assessments on each topic and provided recommendations aiming at mitigating financial vulnerabilities and supporting the development of the financial sector (i.e. development the credit to the economy while insuring financial stability).

The performance of the Malian economy is largely dependent on the performance of the agricultural sector. The overall good growth in the Malian economy over the last several years is attributed to the agricultural GDP growth. Since 1995, the economy grew at about 5 percent per year until 2010, but a global recession, the military coup and terrorist activity caused a noticeable slowdown in GDP to about 1.2 percent in 2011-2012. The economic growth has resumed at a slow pace since 2013 and is currently estimated around 4.5 percent for 2014-2015. Agricultural development in general and agricultural finance in particular is hampered by a lack of quality data on the sector. Although improving, reliable statistical information is still lacking in Mali. There are often inconsistencies in agricultural data presented in the various reports available in the country. Although data on the main food crops and cotton are readily available, quality information on the high potential value chains, like mango and meat and dairy value chains, is less frequently provided. The lack of quality agricultural statistics makes public planning and analysis difficult and deters private sector investment.

A worldwide financial crisis of enormous magnitude continues to unfold rapidly. Unlike other crises in recent decades, the current episode is rooted in industrial countries' financial systems and is affecting low-income and middle-income countries (MICs) alike. Defaults on securitized sub-prime mortgages as a real estate market bubble burst led to failures or near-failures of several large financial institutions and a collapse of inter-bank and commercial paper markets. A tightening of credit, combined with declining consumer confidence, has brought on worldwide recession with growing unemployment, and many fear that the downturn will be severe and protracted. At the same time, the rapidly multiplying signs of contraction are prompting strong responses, including fiscal stimulus packages and reductions in benchmark lending rates, on the part of several of the affected developed countries. The Bank Group is well placed to help mitigate the impact of the current crisis with financing and advisory services, and its clients are already requesting increased support. A rapid, high-quality response that combines financial and advisory support can do much to ease the inevitable ramifications of the crisis. Lessons from evaluations of previous Bank Group responses to past crises can help inform the response to the current crisis in order to increase its effectiveness.