Mali’s position declines in global corruption report

The 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International reveals a minor setback for Mali. The country has shifted from 135th to 136th place on the global stage. This result places Mali behind its regional allies in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), namely Niger and Burkina Faso.

This annual assessment, which evaluates 182 nations on their efforts to curb illicit practices, awarded Mali a score of 28/100. Despite various anti-corruption measures introduced by the current administration, the one-spot drop suggests that significant hurdles remain in the country’s governance landscape.

Challenges in transparency and public accountability

According to Ibrahim Harouna Touré, regional coordinator for the Human Rights and Peace Observatory in Gao, the latest ranking is a symptom of ongoing transparency issues. He highlights a lack of critical oversight and public discourse regarding major government initiatives. “There is an absence of debate and contradiction in the state’s major projects,” Touré noted, specifically pointing to the lack of accountability in public procurement processes.

The civil society advocate further expressed concerns that institutional leaders are not sufficiently answerable to the citizens they serve. He suggested that public finances often seem to be managed with too much autonomy and too little reporting. “It feels like a form of unrestrained governance, where each body manages public resources as it sees fit,” Touré added. For many observers, this deficit in institutional responsibility is a primary factor behind the persistent levels of corruption in Mali.