• Mali approves its first fully coordinated national cybersecurity strategy.

• The country ranks Tier 4/5 on the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index, signalling “basic” capacities.

• Major cyberattacks since 2022 exposed weaknesses in tax, banking and public-sector systems.

Mali faces a surge in cyberthreats. Consequently, the government seeks to strengthen its digital-security architecture to modernize governance, protect critical infrastructure and improve national resilience.

The government approved the National Cybersecurity Strategy 2026–2030 during the Council of Ministers on 5 December. The framework aims to reinforce national digital resilience as cyberattacks rise and digital transformation accelerates across public administration and the economy.

The government states: “Cybersecurity has become a global concern due to the growing sophistication of attacks and the financial damage they cause to states and companies. Despite several legislative and regulatory texts adopted in recent years, Mali did not yet have a coordinated national strategy, forcing each actor to undertake isolated actions.”

The roadmap aligns with major national guidelines, including “Mali Kura ɲɛtaasira ka bɛn san 2063 ma” and the National Strategy for Emergence and Sustainable Development 2024–2033. These frameworks place digital transformation at the center of public-sector modernization, service-delivery efficiency and economic growth.

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy announced the strategy earlier this year in response to what authorities consider an increasingly concerning situation. According to the International Telecommunication Union’s Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, Mali ranks Tier 4 out of 5, a level that reflects “basic” capacities in technical, organizational and skills-development areas.

Several high-profile attacks have highlighted these limits. In August 2022, Russian cybercriminals allegedly compromised the data of 312,000 taxpayers from the General Directorate of Taxes. In February 2023, Bank of Africa Mali suffered a major cyber incident described as one of the largest attacks ever recorded against a Malian financial institution. Authorities also report a growing number of identity-theft and online-fraud cases affecting administrations, businesses and individuals.

Given this context, the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy aims to address the most urgent weaknesses in Mali’s digital ecosystem. The plan seeks to protect critical infrastructure, introduce standardized security frameworks, improve incident-response capability, and structure cooperation with international partners.

Ultimately, Mali expects the strategy to establish a more reliable digital environment, which it sees as essential for scaling public-sector digitalization, stimulating local innovation and attracting more investment into the digital economy.

This article was initially published in French by Samira Njoya

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum