AI regulation in Mali (2026)

Ordinance N°2023-022/PT-RM of 4 August 2023 created the Centre d'Intelligence Artificielle et de Robotique du Mali, a public scientific, technical and cultural establishment under the Ministry of Higher Education. Ratified unanimously by the Conseil National de Transition, it is a research and training body—not a regulatory authority—focused on autonomous systems, intelligent data management, and high-performance computing.

Loi n°2013-015 governs the collection, processing, and storage of personal data across Mali; the independent Autorité de Protection des Données à Caractère Personnel (APDP) enforces it. In 2025 the APDP escalated enforcement, fining a clinic 5 million CFA francs and issuing over 100 mise-en-demeure notices. CIAR-Mali has stated it collaborates with the APDP on ethics, making this law the closest existing instrument to AI data governance.

Adopted on 5 December 2025, Mali's first coordinated digital-security framework covers critical infrastructure, government systems, financial institutions, and telecoms. It introduces standardized security protocols and incident-response procedures but contains no AI-specific provisions.

As an AU member state, Mali is covered by the Continental AI Strategy endorsed in July 2024, which calls on member states lacking national AI policies to use the AU framework as a baseline and to develop their own strategies in Phase I (2025–2026). Mali has not yet published a national AI strategy in response.

As of May 2026, Mali has not published a national AI strategy document, AI ethics guidelines, or tabled draft AI legislation. OECD and regional assessments of AI governance in Africa note Mali's ecosystem is at an early structuring stage, with capacity gaps in infrastructure, talent, and institutional frameworks.