France will grant an additional €300 million in aid to Mali, mainly to develop the north of the country, where the ex-Tuareg rebellion and pro-government armed groups have just reached a peace agreement, AFP reported on 16 October, citing French diplomatic sources. “We are going to announce approximately €300 million until 2017, of which a substantial part is meant for the North”, one of the sources declared.

This amount will come in addition to the €300 million in loans and aids already granted by Paris during a donors’ conference for Mali which took place in May 2013 in Brussels.

The new aid will be officially announced during a conference organised by the Organisation for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the economic revival and development of Mali scheduled to take place on 22^nd October in Paris. The European Union (EU), main lessor to Mali, the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will also make announcements during this conference.

The ex-rebellion in Northern Mali and its pro-government rival armed groups had announced on 15^th October having reached a peace agreement after several days of negotiations.

This “pact of honour” should put an end to the hostilities between the two factions, which led to bloodshed in Northern Mali in August and September.

It is worth nothing that Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (photo) is expected on 21^st October in Paris. Mr Keïta have been hosted by France on several occasions since his elections in 2013, but this is the first time he will be entitled to all the splendours of a state visit.