Mali has officially backed Morocco’s plan to grant autonomy to Western Sahara while asserting sovereignty over the disputed region. The Malian transitional government announced its decision on Friday, endorsing a proposal aimed at ending the decades-long conflict between the Moroccan government and the indigenous Sahrawi people.
This shift includes Mali withdrawing its recognition of the separatist Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The move aligns with growing international support for Morocco's plan, which has found favour among African allies, the Trump administration in the U.S., and most European Union members.
In a statement, the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared: "the Republic of Mali supports the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco as the only serious and credible basis for resolving this dispute and considers that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the most realistic solution."
Western Sahara, a phosphate-rich coastal desert comparable in size to Colorado, was under Spanish rule until 1975. The territory is claimed by both Morocco and the Polisario Front, which operates from refugee camps in southwestern Algeria and claims to represent the Sahrawi people indigenous to the area.
In October of 2025, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution placing Morocco’s proposed autonomy plan for Western Sahara at the center of efforts to resolve the conflict. The resolution does not determine the territory’s final status, but describes the Moroccan initiative as a “serious, credible, and realistic” basis for reaching a political solution.
The resolution referred to Morocco’s plan as a basis for negotiation. As with similar resolutions in previous years, the text made no mention of a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option, which is the solution long favored by the pro-independence Polisario Front and its allies, including Algeria, Russia, and China.
After years of conflict, Western Sahara has recently emerged as a hot spot for investment, drawing European and American firms interested in fishing, agriculture and infrastructure projects that would allow for the transmission of wind and solar power.
