Word: bamako
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...migrating to Europe. "You see poverty other places, but here, you see money," says Abdel Kader Coulibaly, a bank manager in Kayes. He says migrants' families spend all they get, rather than investing it to generate income locally. "All the money ends up with shopkeepers and traders from Bamako [the capital]," he says. The trick now is to find programs that maximize the benefits of remitted cash while avoiding some of its downside. Some migrants are now using their economic clout to perform work usually done by big aid organizations. Ambadedi's workers' association in Paris, for example, funds some...
...Lively Bamako, the capital of Mali, might not have shops selling the latest iPods. Nonetheless, its streets spill over with a steady stream of tunes on tap, played by some of West Africa's greatest musicians. Like Havana, this city of 1 million lives for music. By day, battered taxis blare out foot-stomping beats, while old men cross roads with radios glued to their ears. By night, Bamako is a riot of noise as singers ululate at wedding parties and the city's many music venues crank up the bass...
...Music is important," says local veteran musician Amadou Bagayoko. "Every celebration is an opportunity to party." And what opportunities. La Refuge is just one gem in Bamako's brilliant music scene, which easily rivals that of Dakar, its more famous neighbor. If you're Bamako-bound, you'll find the beat here...
...FOLYBLON: If Hotel Wasulu's not hopping, try the perennially popular Folyblon, tel: (223) 675 5933. Situated in the Hippodrome, Bamako's new trendy district, it lures a sharply dressed, mostly student crowd with bands like the Makossa ensemble Mouv' Africa. To hear percussive panache, drop by on Thursdays for the djembe sessions. Friday is griot night when a beer costs only...
...HOGON: A fixture on the Bamako circuit for over a decade, Le Hogon, tel: (223) 223 0760, is managed by the amiable Moussa Yaffa, a DJ who mixes techno with the kora, or traditional harp. The club's best performers include Toumani Diabate, considered the world's greatest kora player, and the 22-piece Symmetric Orchestra, whose complex, swirling melodies are produced by the balaphon (a West African xylophone), djembe, kora and guitars...