Mali's workers feel the squeeze as sanctions take hold

FILE PHOTO: A view of a building under construction along the Niger river, in Bamako, Mali February 19, 2022. REUTERS/Paul Lorgerie

Mohamed Cisse used to employ hundreds of workers in Mali's capital Bamako before economic sanctions last month shut borders and cut the lifeblood of his construction business.

Cement is scarce. Its key ingredient, clinker, comes from neighbouring Senegal, from which all but essential goods are blocked. Cisse has been forced to shut three of his four building sites.