On 10 July 2019, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved recommendations of the first monitoring report of the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) on the «Diversification of Activities of the Modern Mills of Mali" (M3) Project in Mali.
The Board asked Bank management to update its action plan and submit biannual supervision reports to the IRM on the progress made in its implementation. Finally, it authorized the independent Review Mechanism (IRM) to conduct a second monitoring mission to Mali next year (2020), to assess progress made in the implementation of the Updated Management Action Plan.
The IRM's recommendations arising from the monitoring of the implementation of the Management Action Plan will focus on three main issues: progress made in settling the land dispute between M3 and the villages of Sahou and Sanamadougou, adequate compensation of people affected by the Project, and environmental audit of M3 industrial facilities. IRM recommendations in the first monitoring report identified the required set of actions to be implemented by Mali Government Officials, Bank management and the M3 management regarding the three pending issues.
A complaint relating to this project was submitted to the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (BCRM) on 23 September 2015 on behalf of the people affected by the project (by an international NGO, Afrique-Europe-Interact (AEI), which has a local office in Mali. Following the approval by the Board on 23 November 2016, the IRM conducted a compliance review and documented its findings and recommendations in a report that was approved by the board on 26 April 2018. The board also authorized the IRM to conduct annual monitoring of implementation of the management action plan.
The loan of M3 Project was approved by the Board on 17 September 2014 to the Moulin Modern Mali (M3), a company with limited liability and registered in Mali in 2007. It trades in agro-industrial production.
The Bank loan amounted to Eur16.8 million granted in local currency (FCFA), with co-financing to the amount of CFAF 10.8 billion with equity capital, CFAF 25.2 billion by other bank loans, and CFAF 7 billion from the West African Development Bank (WADB).
Both the Bank and WADB loans have been used to procure industrial equipment for the project.
The project will expand M3's existing processing facilities to enable it to produce semolina from durum wheat, millet and maize; long and short pasta, as well as couscous from wheat, millet and maize. The factory will also produce flour from kibbled millet and maize. M3 will also acquire a new flour mill for the production of bread-quality wheat flour. The production residue will be used to produce animal feed.