Denmark will partially suspend its development aid to Mali and Burkina Faso, its foreign ministry said on Friday, intensifying pressure on the military juntas running the impoverished West African countries. The decision came after Mali forced Danish troops contributing to an anti-jihadist mission to quit the country and a coup by Burkina Faso’s army that ousted elected leader Roch Marc Christian Kabore last month. Development Minister Flemming Moller Mortensen last weekend said Denmark was “putting the whole plan on hold and reviewing it thoroughly”. He told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper that the country would “continue to support humanitarian and civil society projects, but cooperation with the central ministries is shelved and will be reappraised with the United Nations and the European Union”.
Mali is one of Denmark’s main foreign aid recipients. The Scandinavian country spends 0.7 percent of its economic output on foreign aid, one of the world’s highest levels. The Sahel state received 122 million euros ($139 million) from Denmark between 2017 and 2022 for decentralisation and human rights projects, while several Scandinavian NGOs work in the country. The amount of money suspended was not specified. Mali’s junta, which seized power in an August 2020 coup, in late January demanded the withdrawal of 100 Danish troops serving in the France-led Takuba anti-jihadist taskforce, saying they deployed without Bamako’s consent. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod denounced a “dirty political game” and withdrew the soldiers.
The row plunged Takuba’s future into further uncertainty as France reassesses its almost decade-long commitment to fighting a jihadist insurgency in Mali amid growing hostility from the junta and across the region. Mali’s junta has come under growing pressure after delaying elections and proposing a timetable for a return to civilian rule that would have seen it remain in power for up to five years. West Africa’s regional bloc last month agreed harsh economic sanctions on Bamako, including a trade embargo, border closures and a halt to financial aid.
