The leaders of the Mali junta have entered into a deal with a Chinese company to supply them with military gear, training, and knowledge exchange in critical defence areas.
Mali’s Defence Minister Sadio Camara and the head of the Chinese firm Norinco signed the agreement in Beijing on Monday.
Colonel Assimi Goita, the interim president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, observed the signing and was given a tour with his team to inspect some of the equipment facilities, which store drones, armoured vehicles, and other military hardware.
Camara said that the country, sanctioned by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, has received military equipment from China.
“Norico provided us with equipment without requiring immediate payment. We settled this contract only after the embargo was lifted. We will always remember this gesture,” he stated.
Mali is grappling with insecurity in certain areas of the country, where it is engaged in combat with militant factions. Its relations with several Western nations have soured since the military coup in 2020.
In July, leaders of three military administrations – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – convened their first collective summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger, where they declared the establishment of a union of three Sahel states, thus departing from ECOWAS.
Goita, attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing, also met Chinese President Xi Jinping. They jointly announced the augmentation of the China-Mali relationship to a strategic partnership.