JOHANNESBURG

Leaders of the Malian junta have signed a contract with a Chinese firm to provide them with military equipment, training, and technology transfer in key areas of defense.

The agreement was signed on Monday by Mali’s Defense Minister Sadio Camara and the head of the Chinese firm Norinco in Beijing.

Interim president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces Col. Assimi Goita witnessed the signing and was taken around with his delegation to inspect some of the equipment rooms which house drones, and armored vehicles, among other military hardware.

Camara said Mali, sanctioned by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, has received military equipment from China. “Norico delivered equipment to us without waiting for the payment of money. It was at the end of the embargo that we were able to settle this contract. We will not forget this act,’’ he was quoted as saying.

Mali faces insecurity in parts of the country where it’s battling militant groups. Its relations have deteriorated with several Western nations since the military coup in 2020.

In July, leaders of three military regimes – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – held their first joint summit in the Nigerien capital of Niamey, where they announced a confederation of three Sahel states, breaking away from ECOWAS.

Goita, in China for the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, also met Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two announced the elevation of the China-Mali relationship to a strategic partnership.