(Ecofin Agency) - Land speculation in Mali is getting out of hands, reports Mali actu citing the minister of State domains and land issues who met local authorities of Kati to discuss land management.

“Land speculators withdrew from banks 1,534 billion CFA francs in 2015 for personal use (houses, cars and luxury trips) which is about the same amount as the 2016 national budget. These few individuals were able to achieve this with the complicity of some bank and domains officers. They steal from farmers their lands,” the official said.

This situation arises in a context where land management has for long not been integrated of public policies. However, this should change significantly given that President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita recently sound the bell regarding bad land practices, on TV.

Let’s recall that Mali is the twelfth African nation to sell its arable lands to foreign investors the most, 0.5 million hectares since 2000, according to Thinking Africa.

Souha Touré