CHARGE AND MCC SENIOR ADVISOR CASSANDRA BUTTS MEET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000046 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2021 TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON MCC ML SUBJECT: CHARGE AND MCC SENIOR ADVISOR CASSANDRA BUTTS MEET WITH MALIAN PRESIDENT Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Peter Henry Barlerin, for reasons 1.4 (b) (d). ¶1. (C) On January 14, Charge and Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Cassandra Butts met with Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure (ATT). The President was accompanied by his Secretary General, Mr. Diango Cissoko, the Chair of the MCA-Mali Board Minister, Marimantia Diarra, and the Director General of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) for Mali, Nene Traore. MCC Mali Resident Country Director Jon Anderson and PAO Kate Sharp also participated from the U.S. side. ¶2. (C) ATT said he had not yet had the opportunity to meet President Obama, but when he does he will tell him about all of the good things the United States is doing in Mali. He likened the compact to a Marshall Plan for Mali, and said a number of other African heads of state have approached him to ask how he secured a compact. ATT noted that the Alatona Irrigation Project addresses one of his major preoccupations, food security. Erratic rainfall and drought in the Sahel region poses a constant threat. ¶3. (C) ATT noted that MCC's funding of the upgrading and paving of 81 kilometers of road between the towns of Niono and Goma Coura will give villagers better access to markets, putting producers in closer contact with consumers. He emphasized that this road is a key link to the isolated northern areas of Mali. MCC's expansion of the main conveyance system bringing water from the Niger River into the Alatona zone, and its construction of irrigation canals servicing some 5,200 hectares will raise revenues for hundreds of thousands of people. Securing land rights and titles for small farmers will help immeasurably, but in particular women and young people, ATT said. He pointed out that the Director General for MCA Mali is a woman, and is an example of the importance the nation attaches to the advancement of women. ¶4. (C) Regarding the MCC-funded project to renovate the runway of Bamako's airport and to construct a new terminal, ATT said that Mali is at the center of West Africa, and his dream is to turn Bamako into a hub. He said 16 countries are within 90 minutes flight from Bamako, and that the airport expansion project will help make this dream a reality. ¶5. (C) ATT said he is very grateful to the United States for �A;what it is doing, and asked Butts to convey to the President his deep appreciation. He asked her to convey the hope, as well, that the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) be continued. He said thanks to PEPFAR, HIV/AIDS is no longer a killer in Africa. He noted that in Mali, malaria is a far biggeBQ+6a^MCC Compact. "You make the difference," she said. MCC is excited at the potential of this compact to reduce poverty in Mali. In spite of the challenges over the first two years of the compact, we cannot lose sight of the progress that has been achieved. And, while there is much work that remains to be done, Butts said, MCC is confident that working with the MCA board and the director general, it will be able to address the challenges of finishing the airport project within the time limit of the compact and of identifying the additional financing required to complete the Alatona irrigation project. The President said he is fully aware of the challenges of the program and is satisfied that the teams are working together to solve them. He said he and his staff "are here for that, and solutions to problems will be found". ¶7. (C) Butts expressed the hope that, if the current projects are completed successfully within the five-year timeframe dictated by the terms of the agreement, MCC may be able to entertain the prospect of entering a second compact agreement with Mali. Butts said that ATT should continue to feel free to contact the Ambassador or MCC Mali Resident Country Director at any time. ¶8. (C) ATT responded that MCC presents an historic opportunity. It is for this reason, he said, that he decided to retain oversight of the program within the presidency, and appointed his secretary general to work with the Board and MCA to manage the portfolio. He personally named the supervisory board president, a former minister with a great deal of development program experience , and pointed out that the MCA director general was selected in an open, transparent, and competitive bid process. MCC and MCA make a great team. We pledge to succeed, he concluded. ¶9. (C) The following day, the Charge and Butts accompanied BAMAKO 00000046 002 OF 002 the President, together with Anderson and the staff of MCC and MCA-Mali, to a spot near the town of Diabaly for the groundbreaking ceremony of the USD 79 million irrigation construction project. ATT and the rest of the party next toured the point where water from the Niger River is diverted to three large canals that provide water to all areas of the vast Office du Niger scheme. The point is the beginning of a USD 46 million expansion of the main conveyance system, which will essentially double the capacity of the irrigation in the scheme, as well as a USD 1 million activity to repair and rehabilitate the hydraulic structure. The conveyance contract was signed only the previous week, so work had not yet begun. To access the sites, the group drove up and back the length of the road construction project, which is already underway. BARLERIN