(Bio)Fueling Injustice? - Europafrica

not, or not adequately, consulted, amounting in some cases to human rights
violations. 124 According to the studies, foreign investments are often realised to the
detriment of the realisation of local needs. 125
These investments in Mali affect in particular women, “who are systematically
overlooked in consultation and compensation processes by authorities and
investors,” 126 and they have been reported to threaten the familial model. 127 Agrofuel
investments specifically jeopardise food security in a country where 1.5 million people
(12% of the population) are undernourished, 128 and has little arable land:
The Permanent Secretary of the Executive Committee of the
Superior Council on Agriculture argues that letting investors
pursue their financial (ROI) goals will help “diversify food
production.” However, he also recognizes that Mali should be
giving preference to food over agrofuels production, and that
the question of producing agrofuels on fertile and well-watered
land is one that “needs to be debated by the authorities
responsible for this.” Yet, so far, calls from civil society to open
up a debate on such issues remain unanswered.
4.2.2. The Markala Sugar Project: Description
One of the projects being currently conducted in the ON is the Markala Sugar Project
(MSP). The MSP is an agro-industrial project in the form of a public-private partnership
between the Malian government and private investors, including particularly South-
African Illovo Groups Holding Ltd., the leading producer of sugar in Africa, as strategic
partner. A contract between the Malian State, represented by the Ministry of Industry,
Investment and Trade has been signed on September 27, 2007. In December 2010,
the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved two loans
amounting to 65 million Euros to finance the project. Financing will also be provided by
the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the ECOWAS Bank for
Investment and Development (EBID), the West African Development Bank (WADB),
the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), the Kuwait Fund, the OPEC Fund (OFID), the
Export-Import Bank of Korea (EXIMBANK) and the project’s strategic partner
(Illovo). 129
The MSP consists of two components: an agricultural component that involves the
planting and irrigation of around 14,132 hectares of sugar cane fields, expected to
produce an annual yield of 1.48 million tons of sugarcane, as well as an industrial
component consisting in the construction of a sugar cane extraction plant to produce
sugar and a plant for the production of ethanol. The expected annual output is 190,000
tons of sugar, 15 million litres of ethanol and the cogeneration of 30 megawatts of
electricity. The Markala Sugar Company (SoSuMar), whose share capital is held by
the private sector (96 %, 70 % Illovo) and the Malian state (4 %), is responsible for the
project’s industrial component, whereas the agricultural component will be managed
by the Sugarcane Development Corporation (CaneCo). Ninety Percent of CaneCo’s
shares are held by the Malian state, the remaining 10 % are held by SoSuMar. 130 In
addition to this, a third entity known as CommCo will be created to manage 40 % of
the area (i.e. 5,562.8 ha) to be planted with sugar cane that has to be sold to
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