The BCEAO Tower (fr. Tour de la BCEAO) is a building in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

. At 20 stories and 80m (262ft) high, it is the tallest building in the

West African West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Ma ...

region. It sits on the north ("right→") bank of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

in the center of the City of

. Classified as Neo-Sudanic architecture, the tower is modeled on the

Sudano-Sahelian Sudano-Sahelian architecture refers to a range of similar indigenous architectural styles common to the African peoples of the Sahel and Sudanian grassland (geographical) regions of West Africa, south of the Sahara, but north of the fertile ...

architecture of the famous Mosques of

Djenné Djenné ( Bambara: ߘߖߋߣߣߋ tr. Djenne; also known as Djénné, Jenné and Jenne) is a Songhai people town and an urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, on ...

and

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

. The building, dull orange in colour, matches the traditional

banco Banco may refer to: Places * Banc (Barcelona Metro), also called Banco, a closed metro stop on the Barcelona metro * Banco, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco National Park, a nation ...

architecture of West Africa, as well as that of the soil in the surrounding area. Its tapered shape resembles a

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

hill from a distance. The distinctive "horns" (or "bat ears") on the building's top, and its deeply incised, vertically variegated facade are typical decorative elements of Sahelian architecture, found on buildings such as the

Great Mosque of Djenné The Great Mosque of Djenné ( ar, الجامع الكبير في جينيه) is a large brick or adobe building in the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style. The mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali, on the flood plain of the Bani River ...

, and strongly resembling the 1923 Bamako Market building. The BCEAO Tower is the Malian headquarters of the Central Bank of West African States, which provides development banking and government financial and currency services in several

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

West African nations. The building is located in the busy Commune III neighbourhood, where "Avenue Moussa Tavele" meets the waterside boulevard between the two main Bamako bridges:

King Fahd Bridge The King Fahd Bridge (Pont Roi Fahd) of Bamako, Mali connects the older sections of the Malian capital to its broad suburbs on the south shore of the Niger River. One of three road bridges across the Niger at Bamako, it is also known as the "New ...

a block west, and Martyrs Bridge three blocks east. Just to the east of the BCEAO complex, a park and formal garden mark where the diagonally running "Boulevard du Peuple" reaches the river. By contrast, small market gardens and launching points or river canoes line the edges of the river. With the Hotel de l'Amitié and the Grande Mosquée, the BCEAO Tower is one of three landmarks visible across most of the city.

References

Archnet: BCEAO Tower

Neo-Sudanic Architecture: Online notes for Dr. Gregory Mann, Columbia University
Retrieved 2008-08-11. Neo-Sudanic architecture Buildings and structures in Bamako Skyscrapers in Mali Office buildings in Mali Skyscraper office buildings {{mali-stub