Mali
Mali: The Fallen Empire of the Griots
Mali was once one of the greatest empires in African history. The Mali Empire of Sundiata Keita (13th century), the Songhai Empire and its capital Timbuktu — city of 333 saints, an intellectual centre where manuscripts were being copied while Europe was emerging from the Middle Ages. Today, Mali is a country at war, led by the military, allied with Russia's Wagner group, where jihadism is gaining ground. From Bamako to Kidal, the state is retreating.
The Collapse
Since 2012, northern Mali has fallen into the hands of armed groups — Tuareg, jihadists, bandits. The French army (Serval then Barkhane) intervened, then left. The coups of 2020 and 2021 brought Assimi Goïta to power. Wagner replaced Barkhane. Massacres are multiplying — by soldiers, jihadists and ethnic militias. More than 400,000 displaced, thousands dead. The economy — gold, cotton — is collapsing.
The Ubuntu Strength: Griots and Joking Kinship
Despite everything, Mali remains the land of the griots. These keepers of memory, masters of the spoken word and of music, maintain the thread of tradition. Ali Farka Touré, Salif Keita, Toumani Diabaté — Malian music is a global treasure. Joking kinship (senankuya) between Fulani and blacksmiths, between Bambara and Dogon, defuses conflicts. Family solidarity is the last bulwark.
« Ni ye mogo min ye, o ye i ye »
What you do to others is what you are
— Proverb bambara
Mali reminds us that empires may fall, but culture survives. The manuscripts of Timbuktu have endured for centuries. The griots will keep singing — even under the bombs.