Moroccan companies suspend exports to Mali and Sahel countries, pending improved security conditions 

Moroccan companies in the food, canned goods, and construction materials industries have suspended exports to Mali and other Sahel countries due to the security situation in northern Mali, a professional source in Morocco’s international road transport sector told Hespress AR.

The source revealed that “trade flows between Morocco and Mali are currently facing exceptional disruption because of rising insecurity in several Sahel countries, which has directly affected road transport operations.”

It also confirmed that no losses in lives or property have been reported among Moroccan transport operators so far.

Yet, eight Moroccan truck drivers are stranded in Mali between Diéma and Dori while returning to Morocco after deliveries across West Africa amid escalating violence, with transport unions calling for a military escort to secure their safe return.

Mali remains a strategic partner and a key transit hub for Moroccan exports heading to African markets, including basic consumer goods, food products, canned goods, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, and infrastructure equipment, the professional source stressed.

It added that truck exports are currently suspended, as exporters are avoiding shipments due to security risks on the roads, including armed groups on transport routes, with current conditions making travel too dangerous to continue.

Some trucks carrying non-perishable goods have been forced to stop and unload in logistics centers in Mauritania as a temporary measure, waiting for the security situation to improve so they can continue to Mali.

For perishable goods, shipments have not left their original locations due to the risk of delays and spoilage during transport.

The source stressed that Mali is not only a consumer market but also a key transit corridor to Sahel countries, saying that any disruption there directly affects Moroccan exports to Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad and extends even to Ghana, increasing the economic impact of the situation.