Bamako Capital District
Bamako's 4.2M people generate 36% of Mali's GDP; population will double by 2035 as infrastructure struggles with only 48% electricity access.
Bamako Capital District functions as Mali's overwhelming keystone node—a metropolitan area of 4.2 million people that concentrates national economic activity so intensely that Mali's GDP would be 36% lower without it. This extreme urban primacy reflects post-colonial path dependence: French colonial administration concentrated infrastructure in Bamako, creating a gravitational pull that independence accelerated rather than dispersed. The city ranks among Africa's fastest-growing urban centers, with population projected to double by 2035, yet infrastructure expansion cannot match demographic pressure—only 48% of Malians have electricity access, 45% have basic sanitation, 40% have drinking water. The Niger River port system makes shipping Bamako's second-largest employment sector, moving agricultural and industrial goods despite deteriorating security on arterial roads. The junta government's January 2025 ECOWAS withdrawal and creation of the Alliance of Sahel States with Burkina Faso and Niger represent defensive coalition formation against regional isolation. Chinese and Saudi investment in urban infrastructure creates dependency relationships while Western aid organizations provide essential services the state cannot deliver. Military spending increased 38% between 2020-2024 as security absorbs resources that might otherwise build economic capacity.