The Mali people (or Malians) represent a civilization in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. Their colors are crimson and gold, and they are led by Mansa Musa.
The Malians' civilization ability is Songs of the Jeli, which provides their City Centers with additional 
Faith and 
Food for each adjacent Desert and Desert Hills tile and also allows them to purchase Commercial Hub buildings with Faith, but increases the 
Gold output of their Mines at the cost of 
Production and gives them a 30% Production penalty to units and buildings. Their unique unit is the Mandekalu Cavalry (which replaces the Knight), and their unique district is the Suguba (which replaces the Commercial Hub).
Strategy
Mali should focus on generating gold and faith by settling desert locations. Doing so will also grant you bonus food to grow cities in area which other civilizations struggle in and let you pick the first Pantheon most of the time. Choosing Desert Folklore is a wise decision, seeing as you want to construct Holy Sites anyway to boost the yield of your Unique District, Suguba, another important component of your Mali game. Having both high income and reduced buying cost will help you overcome your production maluses by spending Gold. You can put your accumulated Faith to good use by purchasing Suguba District's buildings, religious (if you manage to found a religion), military (via the powerful Grand Master's Chapel) or Naturalist and Rock Band units.
The key to unlocking true Mali's power is to set up international Trade Routes from your prosperous desert cities. Try to achieve as many Golden Ages as possible to increase your trade capacity. Don't worry about the possibility of getting your Traders pillaged, deployed Mandekalu Cavalry units will guard them on their long journeys. Having good relations with trade recipients leads to creation of Alliances, which can supply your cities with Culture, Science, Faith or additional Gold. Consider going for either Religious or Cultural Victory, which can be decently supported by your Trade Routes to other civilizations. Having a lot of Gold to support the maintenance of faith-purchased military units opens up Domination Victory as well.
Civilopedia entry
City names
Citizen names
Males:
Females:
Modern males:
Modern females:
Trivia
- The Mali civilization's symbol is an adobe mosque (possibly the Great Mosque of Djenné).
- The Mali civilization ability references the West African keepers of oral tradition (and sometime royal advisors).
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