Algerian prime minister Sifi Grine travelled to Bamako on Monday for an official visit, appearing at the side of army general Assimi Goïta, the strongman of Mali’s ruling junta. Presented as a decisive step towards closer ties between the two Sahelian neighbours, the choreography of the day struggles to conceal a far messier diplomatic reality. Behind the warm handshakes and the polished statements, the scars of recent quarrels and the lingering shadow of the Algiers accord continue to weigh on a bilateral relationship that has touched its lowest point.
A staged embrace in the salons of Koulouba
The setting was meant to look historic. Inside the reception rooms of the Koulouba palace, the Algerian head of government and Mali’s top military officer shook hands in front of the cameras, with a busy agenda on the table: tighter bilateral coordination, security cooperation and fresh momentum for trade across a Sahel region under heavy strain.
Two capitals, two different calculations
For Algiers, the trip answers a clear ambition — regaining a foothold in what it has long regarded as its southern backyard. For Bamako, parading a diplomatic partner of this calibre offers a way out of a growing international isolation. Yet the picture of harmony on display has done little to persuade seasoned observers.
The heavy backlog of Bamako’s grievances
This sudden burst of brotherly warmth follows months of exceptionally tense exchanges. Not long ago, the military authorities in Bamako heaped bitter criticism on Algiers, accusing their northern neighbour of meddling in Malian internal affairs as part of a sovereignty-first rhetoric that has become their trademark.
Among the complaints repeatedly voiced were Algeria’s hosting of Malian opposition figures and influential religious leaders, and above all the alleged backing given to autonomist rebel groups in the north. By portraying Algiers as a haven for hostile acts carried out through peace intermediaries, the junta appeared to be looking for an outside scapegoat to explain a stalled security effort and a deteriorating situation on the ground.
A marriage of convenience dictated by geopolitics
The reconciliation celebrated in Bamako looks less like a sincere and lasting alliance than a forced arrangement. Mali’s rulers, having cut ties abruptly with their traditional Western partners and entangled themselves in uncertain regional alliances, are hunting for new diplomatic backers.
No appetite for a permanent crisis on the southern border
Algiers, for its part, cannot afford a permanent zone of instability along its southern frontier, where terrorist networks and cross-border trafficking thrive. The meeting between Sifi Grine and Assimi Goïta therefore rests on hard pragmatism: save appearances, avoid the point of no return, without erasing the deep mutual resentment that has eroded trust between the two governments.
The Algiers accord and the leverage it still gives Algiers
In this muted tug of war, Algeria keeps a strategic edge. Long seen as the region’s security gatekeeper and indispensable mediator, it shaped the peace agenda for years, most notably through the 2015 Algiers accord.
When the junta unilaterally renounced that framework in early 2024, it believed it was asserting its authority and sweeping away any form of external tutelage. Reality proved otherwise. Walking away from the Algerian negotiating structure brought neither peace to northern Mali nor an end to the security threat. By returning to Bamako today to press its terms and restart the dialogue, Algiers demonstrates its political centrality: Bamako may try to ignore Algerian diplomacy, but it always ends up having to deal with it.
What military-led diplomacy cannot fix
If the visit offers General Assimi Goïta a welcome media breather, it settles none of the underlying problems. The junta keeps basing its legitimacy on security rhetoric while indefinitely postponing a return to democratic constitutional order.
Without genuine commitment to domestic political stability and without a sincere acceptance of regional balances, the pledges made during this encounter risk remaining pure communication. Beyond the diplomats’ smiles and the crisp uniforms, the relationship between Bamako and Algiers remains mined ground, where each side waits for the other to stumble.
