Banknotes from the Republic of Mali- Numizon News

Historical preamble

Until 1958, all of the African colonies in France were part of the franc zone, allowing each of the member countries to share the same currency, the CFA franc created in 1945 following the Bretton Woods Agreements. In 1959, the Issuing Institute for French West Africa and Togo became the Central Bank of West African States (French: Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, BCEAO). The new international public establishment brings together eight West African countries (see table) which are all members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The organization is responsible, among other things, for ensuring the common monetary policy for the member states and for guaranteeing, through a monetary agreement concluded with France, the convertibility of the CFA Franc with the French Franc.

But Mali has decided otherwise. The country is looking for another way ... This "state which proclaims itself socialist, wants complete control of the credit policy. He does not want to submit to the controls that France imposes on members of the franc zone. His choice is thus to leave the West African monetary union, to create an issuing institute and a national currency, while seeking to maintain a link with the franc zone." (1)

On September 22, 1960 (2), Mali became an independent state and left the group formed with the BCEAO. On July 1, 1962, the country created its own issuing institute, the Bank of the Republic of Mali, with the currency of the Malian franc backed by parity equal to the CFA franc.

The Bank of the Republic of Mali

Between 1960 and 1970, the Bank of the Republic of Mali will issue a series of 10 notes, the front of which features a bust portrait of the First Malian President, Modibo Keïta (1915-1977). The first issue (1960-1967) presents a portrait printed on the left and the second issue (1967-1970) presents a portrait printed on the right. These two issues are produced by the printer Statni Tiskarna Cenin based in Prague in Czechoslovakia.

The Central Bank of Mali

In 1968, Modibo Keïta was overthrown by a coup détat by a group of officers commanded by Lieutenant Moussa Traoré. The latter immediately established a dictatorship. The Bank of the Republic of Mali changes its name and becomes the Central Bank of Mali. Between 1970 and 1984, a first ... and last series of 5 banknotes of 100 francs, 500 francs, 1,000 francs, 5,000 francs and 10,000 francs was put into circulation:

1970-1984 : Central Bank of Mali

1984, the return to reality

Political independence is one thing ... Only the chronic difficulties of a country still underdeveloped eventually catch up with Mali, incapable of gaining monetary independence and definitively freeing itself from the preponderant influence of France. In 1984, the country definitively abandoned its national currency and returned into the BCEAO ... The country is identified by the letter "D" on monetary issues, see the table for the allocation of letters by country below:

Letter code	UEMOA member countries in 2020
B	Benin
C	Burkina Faso
A	Ivory Coast
S	Guinea-Bissau (since 1997)
D	Mali (since 1984)
H	Niger
K	Senegal
T	Togo

BCEAO Issues

Between 1981 and today, fourteen notes have been issued by the African Monetary Institute. These banknotes will be the subject of another part of the Numizon catalog, but in the meantime, here are the references of these notes for Mali:

Second Issue (1981-1992)