Money and duty free for Mali

Currency and Money

Currency information

CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) Franc (XOF) = 100 centimes. Notes are in denominations of XOF10,000, 5,000, 2,000 and 1,000. Coins are in denominations of XOF500, 200, 250, 100, 50, 25, 10 and 5.

Mali is part of the French Monetary Area. Only currency issued by the Banque des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (Bank of West African States) is valid; currency issued by the Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (Bank of Central African States) is not. The CFA Franc is tied to the Euro.

Credit cards

Credit cards are very little used in Mali's cash economy - and are only accepted at major banks, airports, hotels and restaurants. Visa is the main card accepted; MasterCard and American Express can sometimes be used.

Travellers cheques

Can be exchanged In Bamako. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are advised to take traveller's cheques in US Dollars or Euros.

Banking hours

Mon-Fri 0800-1630, Sat 0800-1400.

Currency restrictions

There are no restrictions on the import or export of local or foreign currency, but amounts exceeding XOF25,000 should be declared.

Currency exchange

It is possible to exchange Euros and US Dollars in Bamako.

Mali duty free

Overview

The following items may be imported into Mali without incurring customs duty:

• 1,000 cigarettes or 250 cigars or 2kg of tobacco.
• Goods up to the value of XOF250,000.

Travellers can import per person duty free the following items:

Banned Imports

Prohibited items include narcotics, beef and derivates, potassium bromate not intended for laboratories, any food product containing potassium bromate, meat, blood and bone meal intended for feeding animal, unregistered pesticides, oils and equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hazardous chemicals  food or medicine past the best-before date for human and veterinary use, foreign products, natural or manufactured, bearing either on themselves or on packaging, cases, bundles, envelopes, bands or labels, etc. a trademark, a name, a sign or any indication likely to suggest that they were made in Mali or that they are of Malian origin, and alcohol in plastic sachets.

Restricted items include among others medicine, meat, plants, explosives, and firearms and ammunition.

Banned Exports

Restricted exports requiring authorisation include meat, hunting trophies, plants and artworks.