Interview: President of Mali on the Ebola crisis

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, the President of Mali, is interviewed on how his country is coping with the Ebola outbreak.

1. What is the current situation with Ebola in your country, Mali?

Our Ebola response coordination mechanism started on 23 March 2014, the day after the disease appeared in our neighbouring country, Guinea.

Mali’s first case of Ebola was declared in October 2014. It involved a two-year-old girl who had travelled from neighbouring Guinea to the town of Kayes, 600km from Bamako, where she sadly died. Everybody who had been in contact with her was placed in quarantine and monitored regularly. At the end of the 21-day incubation period, which ended on 11 November 2014, no other cases had been found. We declared this outbreak of the disease closed.

Unfortunately, there was another case in Bamako the following day, this time involving a patient who had come from Guinea and who was admitted to a private clinic. By 24 November 2014, this outbreak had claimed four lives and a further case of infection, which is now being treated. At that stage, 270 people were being monitored. The government took swift action to improve monitoring of the border with Guinea and I myself went to Kourémalé, a town on the border, to inspect the measures. As for the healthcare system, this has performed well but we need to ensure that we strengthen it further, especially with the support of the World Health Organization and all our partners.

I personally called for a general mobilization of all Malian citizens, to make the response to Ebola a major national cause, with everyone, at all levels, committed: elected officials, traditional leaders, religious leaders, teachers, artists and the general public. Everyone must do their utmost to raise awareness and send prevention messages so that Ebola is soon no more than an unpleasant memory.

2. What are your most pressing needs as you respond to the situation?

We needed healthcare materials, which were provided by the WHO, China and France, for whose support I am sincerely grateful. We now need representatives in the global media to publish an objective account of how Mali is responding to the disease without exaggerating the situation and avoiding any kind of stigmatization. We must ensure that this country, which is already in a precarious situation, is not destabilized as a result of a small number of cases of Ebola triggering a fall in tourism and investment. These consequences would be very damaging to our economy. Therefore, we need the media to stress that some countries, like Nigeria and Senegal, have eradicated Ebola, in spite of the cases that appeared there, and that Mali is on the way to achieving this. We would also like to invite them to come and see the situation for themselves. In this regard, the World Economic Forum can be a good representative for us.

3. What mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure a prompt and effective response to international crises in the future?

We believe we need to strengthen our permanent crisis committee in Mali, which can be activated as soon as a crisis arises in one of our region’s countries. The Economic Community of West African States should also have a rapid response mechanism that includes 15 countries, so that the response from the region is a coordinated one. The same mechanism should exist in all regions of Africa and the whole world.

4. Are there lessons to be drawn from the Ebola outbreak that could be applicable to non-medical pan-regional and global crises?

Yes. It is essential that states continue to support each other and that warning mechanisms be established on an international level to enable a global response adapted to each setting, regardless of its nature.

5. Clearly, the immediate concern is to halt the spread of human tragedy, but Ebola will also leave an economic legacy in the region. What is your assessment of the tools and international assistance that will be needed for a sustainable economic recovery?

As I said earlier, it is important not to stigmatize the countries affected, because this would obviously weaken their economies. This is broadly the case in Guinea, Liberia and in Sierra Leone. Perhaps a massive investment plan – a sort of Marshall Plan – should be implemented as soon as possible to revitalize these economies, and thus create a virtuous circle from which the entire West African region can benefit. International leaders, business leaders, heads of international institutions and top-level political leaders should also travel to these regions to send out a message and show that these countries are not in quarantine, and that now precautions have been taken it is still possible to live, do business and travel there in almost normal conditions. This was the purpose of my visit to Guinea and Liberia in October 2014, where I wanted to get a first-hand look at solidarity in Mali.

This interview first appeared in the November Executive Note, a monthly briefing from the World Econonic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils.

Author: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta is the President of Mali.

Image: A health worker checks the temperature of a woman leaving Guinea at the border with Mali in Kouremale, October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Joe Penney