• Mali approved the creation of an annual national AI forum to drive youth employment.

• Authorities aim to connect training, innovation, and industry through the initiative.

• Structural gaps persist between prototype development and industrial-scale production.

During its regular session on Thursday, April 23, the Council of Ministers approved the creation of an annual National Artificial Intelligence Forum. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research will lead the initiative. The forum will take place every June and will bring together the Centre d’Intelligence artificielle et de Robotique du Mali, private sector players, the scientific diaspora, and international partners. Authorities aim to position AI as a practical driver of youth employment.

According to the official statement, the forum will combine several formats to maximize impact. Organizers will host high-level conferences, showcase prototype exhibitions, and run robotics competitions for young participants. The initiative aims to “create national momentum around advanced technologies” and to “promote local industrial expertise and the ingenuity of Malian and African artisans and inventors.”

The CIAR provides the institutional foundation for this strategy. Authorities laid the center’s first stone in June 2023 in Sirakoro Niaré, near Kati. For the 2025–2026 academic year, the center opened a competitive entrance exam for its preparatory MPSI program with 40 available places, signaling growing capacity.

Bridging the gap between training and employment

This announcement aligns with efforts already underway across both private and public sectors. On the private side, RobotsMali has trained young people since 2017 through extracurricular programs, international competitions, and partnerships with schools and universities. The Summer School on Artificial Intelligence trains around 100 students each year over four weeks, with 75% practical content delivered free of charge.

On the public side, the CIAR represents the central infrastructure of this strategy. The government allocated 3.3 billion CFA francs (about $5.9 million) to the center under the 2023 national budget. In parallel, civic initiatives such as OpenStreetMap Mali have mapped about 80% of the country’s roads, creating open datasets on public infrastructure.

However, industry stakeholders highlight persistent bottlenecks. Youssouf Sall, a sector participant, notes that laboratories produce prototypes but lack factories capable of scaling them into mass production. The forum aims to address this gap by building a value chain that links training to market-ready products. Authorities plan to create “spaces for interaction between CIAR, the private sector, the scientific diaspora, and international partners,” according to the Council of Ministers.

Youth employment challenge remains acute

The initiative comes as Mali faces a complex employment landscape. According to the Observatoire national de l’emploi et de la formation, the country created 64,311 new jobs in 2024 and added 40,901 positions in the first half of 2025. However, these figures mask structural weaknesses.

The Institut national de la statistique reported an official unemployment rate of 3.5% in 2024 in an economy dominated by informal and often precarious jobs. Meanwhile, data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance show that youth unemployment for ages 15 to 35 reached 3.6%, the highest among all groups, in a country where 60% of the population falls between 15 and 40 years old.

The National AI Forum reflects a strategic attempt to address this imbalance. Training talent represents one challenge, while creating local employment opportunities represents another. The success of future editions will depend on Mali’s ability to align education, innovation, and industrial capacity.

This article was initially published in French by Félicien Houindo Lokossou

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum