A great feature on one of the few African stations to log and QSL ... Mali. Thank you to the staff of Wavescan.
Jeff: A few weeks ago, we received an email from Professor Dr. Hansjörg Biener in Nuremburg, Germany, who said: “I would still like to extend my New Year's greetings to you and the team of Wavescan. Maybe I can help start the new year with the following article which I hope proves to be a useful contribution to Wavescan. So, here’s Ray Robinson in Los Angeles with Dr. Biener’s article.
Ray: Thanks, Jeff. Dr. Biener writes:
Radio (Nationale du) Mali is one of the stations you could still listen to on shortwave to ring in the New Year. But the original reason for this listening project was the second summit of the leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, scheduled for 22 and 23 December 2025, in Bamako, Mali. Speeches in African French, or speeches with simultaneous translation, could indeed be heard during those days, but the reception quality (in Germany) and my French skills were insufficient for detailed comprehension. The Alliance of Sahel States (Alliance des États du Sahel) was founded in 2023. It emerged after military coups in the three states mentioned and relies on Russia as its international partner. Among the most important outcomes of the summit were the establishment of a 5,000-strong military force for counter-terrorism, the founding of a joint bank, various infrastructure projects to connect the capital cities, and the introduction of a common passport and identity card. But overall, there was only meager press release-style reporting on Radio Mali’s website, www.ortm.ml.
The traditional broadcast schedule remains in effect:
From 0600-0800 UTC on 5995 kHz there’s the morning program "Au Chant du Coq" (or in English, ‘At the Rooster’s Crow’). These broadcasts on shortwave sometimes begin well before 0600, and sometimes considerably later.
Then at 0800 they switch to the 31 meter band and transmit
from 0800-1800 UTC on 9635 kHz.
Then for the evenings they switch back again to 49 meters, and from 1800-2400 UTC are heard on 5995 kHz, the same as in the early mornings.
In December 2025, reception (in Germany) on 5995 kHz was already so good in the early evening that one could enjoy the long, sometimes very complex, African music. The morning program "Au Chant du Coq" could also be followed with a medium-quality reception. The frequent crowing of a rooster was very unusual for urban European ears. Apparently, one of the presenters once imitated it so well that a recording was also played several times. Reception was possible on the daytime frequency of 9635 kHz up to two hours before the end of the broadcast, although it was affected by Chinese National Radio 17 on 9630 kHz. There is also a weekly English-language segment, broadcast on Saturdays from approximately 1850–1905 UTC on 5995 kHz (which was heard on 13 December, but not on 20 December).
Looking at the station’s website, www.ortm.ml, there are some current articles, but many outdated news items can also be seen. This was noteworthy not only with regard to the AES summit, but also with regard to the African Football Championships, which were held from 21 December 2025 – 18 January 2026. For a long time, nothing in the broadcasts sounded like football or football results. This would be understandable if ORTM (the Office de Radio et Télévision du Mali) had broadcasting rights only for Mali's matches. But then, on 3 January 2026, after the group stage, the round of 16 match between Mali and Tunisia at 1900 UTC was heard live on 5995 kHz, at least for a while, because reception was poor that evening.
The game ended 3-2 for the underdog Mali, after extra time and a penalty shootout. Mali wasn't the favourite team in the quarter-final on 9 January 2026 either. They were then eliminated 0-1 by Senegal. Reception of that match was possible on 9635 kHz. However, the commentators, a man and a woman, could barely be heard over the shouting and occasional vuvuzela sounds. The signal-to-noise ratio was poor for reasons other than those typically associated with shortwave radio, as the music during breaks in the broadcast was fine (so one would suspect a poor-quality audio feed from the outside broadcast). During extra time, the frequency switchover time of 1800 UTC approached, but Radio Mali remained on the air on 9635 kHz, but not a moment longer than the final whistle blew, sealing Mali’s defeat. On 5995 kHz, however, the first thing heard was classic rock (Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac, and Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2), before snatches of West African balafon music became audible around 1812 UTC.
Live streams, which would allow verification of shortwave reception or research of the broadcast content in more detail, have been unavailable for some years. Many years ago, before the TV rights were acquired by a pan-African pay-TV provider, the African Championships were also broadcast on ORTM's regular television stream with no geoblocking.
And, we thank Professor Dr. Hansjörg Biener in Nuremburg, Germany for that very interesting article. Now, Jeff – you’re just back from your travels – how was the HFCC conference in Kuala Lumpur?
(Ray Robinson/NWS Wavescan)
