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Mali: Access to health care remains challenging in the north
GENEVA – In Mali, despite a certain political normalization, the armed conflict that has been under way for almost two years makes access to health care difficult for people living in the north. The ICRC is helping them by maintaining its support for certain health facilities.
“Access to health care is still a critical issue for people in the north of Mali,” said Christoph Luedi, head of the ICRC delegation in Mali. “Conflict continues to have an effect on the functioning of health facilities, which struggle mightily to meet people’s needs without outside support.”
After the collapse in public services that followed the beginning of the crisis in 2012, health facilities were no longer able to perform their tasks in the normal way. Even now, the Malian civil service, particularly in the area of health, has yet to redeploy in the north of the country.
“In these circumstances, it is very hard for many Malians, especially young children and pregnant women, who are particularly vulnerable, but also war casualties, to obtain treatment,” said Kathrine Zimmermann, the ICRC’s health coordinator in Mali. “That’s why it is important that we carry on with the medical activities that we have been conducting since the beginning of the conflict.”
Gao’s regional hospital and the referral health centre in Kidal
The hospital in Gao – the main medical facility in the north of the country – has been running since May 2012 thanks to the support of the ICRC, which has been regularly supplying the medicines and medical supplies the hospital needs. As a result, inpatients receive care free of charge.
From January to October 2013, more than 19,000 patients were seen by hospital staff, including 4,000 who were admitted for inpatient treatment and 878 pregnant women who gave birth in the hospital. In addition, 435 casualties were provided with care.
Furthermore, a 150 kilovolt-ampere generator has been installed in the hospital, and with the ICRC supplying 100 litres of fuel every day the facility can meet its own energy needs and is able to provide round-the-clock service.
The hospital staff are backed up by an ICRC medical team (a project leader, two surgeons, an obstetrician-gynaecologist and two nurses) that continues to provide day-to-day care.
At the referral health centre in Kidal, an ICRC surgeon is present on a regular basis. The ICRC supports the centre by providing it with medicines and by covering the entire cost of surgical care, including caesarian sections and operations performed on wounded patients. The most serious cases are transferred for treatment to the hospital in Gao.
Weapon-wounded patients who cannot be treated either in Kidal or Gao are taken to Niamey or Bamako. Since January 2013, the ICRC has carried out 29 such transfers.
Primary health care a priority in rural areas
In order to make sure that people have access to primary health care, the ICRC provides support for seven community health centres in the Gao and Timbuktu areas: it upgrades the premises, supplies medicines and provides medical staff with training and monthly follow-up visits.
“At the hospital in Gao, we noted from the very beginning an abnormally high rate of infant and maternal mortality,” said Ms Zimmermann. “Women in labour were often arriving too late – they were already bleeding internally. It was important to provide care for them at an earlier stage, which we achieved by being present in the health centres, close to the rural communities.”
The three community health centres in the Bourem area, to the north of the city of Gao, which were given similar support by the ICRC until September 2013, are now being supported by the French Red Cross.
In the third quarter of 2013, over 6,000 people were seen by the staff in ICRC-supported health centres.
Support for physical rehabilitation of war casualties
From the beginning of the conflict, the ICRC has been working in close cooperation with the Centre Père Bernard Verspieren in Bamako. The centre receives support from the ICRC’s Special Fund for the Disabled, which provides it with materials and components to produce artificial limbs and other appliances, and backs its physical rehabilitation programme.
This support enables the centre to offer comprehensive care for patients needing prostheses or physical rehabilitation as a result of injuries or other trauma incurred in connection with the conflict.
So far, 20 injured patients at the centre have been given suitable appliances or physiotherapy with ICRC support.
Leading economists, financial experts and industry stakeholders have described the Dangote Group’s investments as major drivers of industrialisation and economic transformation across Nigeria and Africa.
The experts cited the Group’s impact on job creation, import substitution, foreign exchange conservation and economic competitiveness.
They voiced their thoughts at the Lagos Economic Summit themed “The Real Deal: Africa’s Greatest Investment Opportunity,” where they urged governments to implement policies that strengthen local industries and accelerate economic diversification.
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Samaila Zubairu, commended the Dangote Group’s sustained investments across Africa, describing them as critical to unlocking the continent’s economic potential.
He noted that while recent economic reforms have improved foreign exchange stability, strengthened reserves and eased inflationary pressures, the focus must now shift to growth in industry, productivity and employment.
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Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, said industrialisation remains the most effective path to sustainable economic development.
He called for better alignment of trade and industrial policies, stressing that local manufacturers require strategic support to compete effectively and drive broader economic benefits.
Founder and CEO of Nairametrics, Ugodre Obi-Chukwu, said Africa’s growing population presents a significant industrial opportunity, noting that investments such as the Dangote Refinery are helping to retain capital within the continent while strengthening local production capacity.
In his keynote address, Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, said Nigeria is gradually transitioning from a consumption-led economy to one driven by investment and production.
He added that sustained investments in productive sectors will continue to stimulate growth, create jobs and improve living standards.
Participants at the summit also advocated stronger credit infrastructure, improved national identification systems and increased investment in skills development to enhance the productivity and global competitiveness of Africa’s growing youth population.
Photo Caption: From Left – Chief Economist, Dangote Industries Limited, Dr. Hassan Mahmud; Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru; Chairman of Occasion/Special Guest of Honour, Samaila Zubairu; Key Note Speaker Session 1, Bismarck Rewane; during the Real Deal: Africa’s Greatest Investment Opportunity, Sponsored by Dangote Industry Limited in Lagos on Thursday 3, September 2026.
Social media critic Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has released what he described as his first piece of evidence after the Nigeria Police Force challenged him to substantiate his allegations that some police officers allegedly collaborate with kidnappers.
VDM released a video on his Instagram handle on Thursday, August 27, 2026, shortly after the police invited him to provide evidence supporting the claims he made at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt.
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The activist captioned the video: “My evidence number 1.”
Recalled that VDM, who was a panellist at the NBA conference on Tuesday, had alleged that some police officers manning checkpoints along major highways provide kidnappers and bandits with information about travellers.
According to him, the officers allegedly relay details about the identities and movements of travellers to criminal groups, thereby facilitating abductions for ransom.
The allegation triggered a response from the Nigeria Police Force, which denied the claim and challenged VDM to substantiate his allegations.
The police invitation came as the force sought evidence to support the serious claims made by the social media critic.
In response, VDM released the video, describing it as his “evidence number 1”, signalling that he may provide further material to support his allegations.
The development has continued to attract attention, with the controversy placing renewed focus on allegations of possible collaboration between security personnel and criminal groups involved in kidnapping and banditry.
A former Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Goke Adeboroye, has questioned how an alleged fake presidential agency was able to gain access to government facilities, budgetary provisions and office space without being detected.
Adeboroye spoke on Channels Television’s Inside Sources following the discovery of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
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The ICPC had said the purported agency had no legal basis and operated with forged appointment letters and other official documents.
The commission also said its alleged Director-General, Adeniyi Matthew, was never appointed by the Federal Government.
The anti-corruption agency further disclosed that its investigation into the PFIPC led to the discovery of the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, which it alleged was operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation without proper authorisation.
Reacting to the development, Adeboroye described the situation as a major failure of the government’s bureaucratic system.
“The exposure of that fake presidential agency is a major lapse to say that somebody can actually come into the system, get in on the budget, get offices, and all of that,” he said.
The former permanent secretary identified weaknesses in the bureaucratic structures supporting key offices in the Presidency, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service.
According to him, the bureaucracy in these offices should be strong enough to support the President’s policies while also ensuring that fraudulent or unlawful directives do not gain effect.
“The bureaucracy in those offices are not strong enough to be able to help the President drive the vision at the speed and with the efficiency that he wants,” Adeboroye said.
He also stressed the importance of having professional and experienced civil servants who can scrutinise directives issued by political office holders.
Adeboroye said civil servants should be able to recognise suspicious communications purportedly coming from the Presidency because they are familiar with the official channels through which presidential approvals are transmitted.
“Whether the person brings fake or whatever, you as the civil servant should be trained to be able to detect what should be a genuine communication from the State House. You work in that system,” he said.
He explained that presidential approvals usually pass through established channels involving senior government officials.
“When the President approves anything, he always minutes to about three people. He goes to the Chief of Staff, he goes to SGF, and if he has something to do with civil service, the Head of Service will have it.”
Adeboroye recalled an incident from his time as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior involving a former governor who claimed to have presidential approval for a diplomatic passport.
He said the then Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Ude, cross-checked the purported approval before taking action and subsequently sought clarification on whether the former governor, who was no longer in office, should receive the diplomatic passport.
“That’s somebody using the experience of the system to ensure that you are not outplayed,” he said.
The former permanent secretary said similar verification could have been carried out in the alleged fake agency case through a simple phone call to the relevant government offices.
“So we would have expected that on a simple phone call, when I was working in the office of Ekaite, Secretary of Government, I could pick a phone, call any minister, call this, it’s just a phone call from the office of whoever to say, Chief of Staff, is this true? And that would have actually corrected it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office has continued.
The chairman of the project office, Musa Aliyu, had alleged that the office was allocated space within the OSGF premises without presidential authorisation.
However, the National Coordinator and Executive Director of the project office, George Nwabueze, denied the allegation, insisting that the office is a project office under the OSGF and has existed for 16 years.
Nwabueze also produced an appointment letter purportedly issued by the OSGF, conveying approval of his appointment as National Coordinator/Executive Director of the Made in Nigeria Project Office.
The conflicting claims have continued to raise questions about the authorisation and status of the project office and the alleged involvement of public officials in its operations.
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