VZCZCXRO0274
RR RUEHLMC
DE RUEHBP #0046/01 0281146
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 281146Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1070
INFO RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0013
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MCC WASHINGTON DC 0130
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

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 
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