Mali

Mali is landlocked, predominantly Muslim, and not an obvious beer market. But French-speaking West Africa was connected by trade routes, colonial infrastructure and shared commercial networks that moved goods across borders regardless of geography. By 1950, a French-speaking Africa distribution arrangement brought Heineken into the region, and Mali was part of that territory. The exact date Heineken first reached Bamako is not documented — what is confirmed is that Mali was an active market within that network by 1985 at the latest. The 1950 date is my best-educated guess based on the territory as a whole — confirmed on paper by 1986, likely there from the start."