Urban-Rural Linkages: Experiences from Bamako to Ouagadougou, Mali.

Between 1998 and 2009, Mali's capital, Bamako, recorded significant growth, ranking among the fastest growing cities in sub-Saharan Africa and the world, at a rate of 5.4%. To take up these challenges associated with urban growth, the authorities of the District of Bamako launched an ambitious initiative in 2008, which resulted ten years later in the creation of the "Grand Bamako" metropolis, successfully bringing together the District Town Hall of Bamako, the six communes of the District and nineteen peri-urban municipalities.
Before its creation, the concept of Grand Bamako was presented during the CityRAP workshop organized in Ouagadougou from October 23 to 27, 2018 by the West African Economic and Monetary Union Commission (WAEMU) in partnership with UN-Habitat. The participants, from WAEMU member countries, were seduced by this initiative. Subsequently, during the international urban planning seminar on intercommunality governance at the scale of Grand Ouagadougou, held on September 26 and 27, 2019, Grand Bamako was invited by UN-Habitat to share its experience, thus marking the start of a fruitful partnership.
Inspired by this approach, Ouagadougou authorities resolved to follow the same steps. The authorities of Ouagadougou therefore requested the support of Grand Bamako to transform Ouagadougou into a metropolitan area. The first step of this collaboration consisted in a study visit to Bamako from February 25 to March 1, 2024, followed shortly by the signing of a technical assistance agreement of Grand Bamako to Ouagadougou. To support the operationalization of the Community of Communes of Grand Ouaga, the town hall of Ouagadougou obtained a grant from the European Union to implement the Project to Support Economic Growth and Metropolitan Governance of Grand Ouaga (PAGO).
In this context of enhancing cross-learning and sharing of best practices among subnational and local authorities, Grand Bamako is planning an event titled “Urban-Rural Linkages in Mali: a bridge between Bamako and Ouagadougou”.