Mali drops French as official language

The new Constitution means that Mali is in her fourth Republic.

With its new constitution, Mali has dropped French, which has been the West African country’s official language since 1960. Under the new constitution passed overwhelmingly with 96.91% of the vote in a June 18 referendum, French is no longer the official language.

French will be the working language from now on, and the 13 national languages spoken in the country will also receive official language status, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The country’s leader of the military hunts, Assimi Goita took over power in 2021 after leading two successive coups.