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Since January 9, Mali has been deprived of its two main points of access to international trade. Landlocked, the country might count until now on the port of Abidjan, and that of Dakar especially, to sell its products and import goods. Only certain basic necessities can continue to cross the border now, the rest will have to go elsewhere. And why not by Guinea? Conakry refused to apply the ECOWAS blockade. Matthias Raynal traveled to the neighboring region in northeastern Guinea, on the road to neighboring Mali, where the trade boom is still awaited.
From our correspondent in Guinea,
On the side of National 6, a few kilometers from the border, Mohamed Bangoura has just parked his truck. ” We came to pick up this vehicle to bring it back to Sierra Leone “, he explains.
The driver is smiling. He has just crossed the Malian border. Mohamed Bangoura will be able to complete his mission for a mining company and return to his country, despite ECOWAS sanctions.
A little further, along the road that leads to Mali, there is the village of Tombokho. The local butcher, Sidibe Toumani, chats with friends under a tree. At the end of the followingnoon, not a customer in sight. ” It doesn’t change. It does not change anything. »
On the road that leads to Bamako, there are no more drivers, no more travelers than usual. ” It can increase if the Senegal border is closed, people will pass through here. We might thus see an increase in exports from Mali to Guinea. Every day, trucks full of foodstuffs come to supply the Siguiri market.
A commercial crossroads close to Mali
The first major commercial crossroads following the border, Siguiri is much closer to Bamako than to Conakry. The local economy depends on trade with neighboring Mali. ” Potatoes come from Mali, tomatoes come from Bamako too. »
Mamadou Bah, 71, is a merchant. He is also the president of the High Council of Malians living abroad in Siguiri. If the embargo continues, he said, then ” it’s very good for Guinea because Malian goods will come through there. So Senegal will lose. »
But according to him, the port of Conakry will find it difficult to replace that of Dakar: “ It’s not all the goods they can pass. The goods that pass through Dakar, that’s a lot of goods that will be missing. All Malian fabrics and small objects, all that comes from Senegal. »
Mohamed Lamine Cherif is the vice-president of the Kankan Chamber of Commerce. In the capital of Upper Guinea, wholesalers are preparing to take over from Senegalese traders. ” I sell tiles. It must come gradually as the needs arise in Mali. This is how demand will be observed on the Guinean market. »
The problem of roads in Guinea remains to be resolved. If from the border to Kankan there is bitumen, the roadway is in poor condition from Kouroussa. Repair work is in progress.