The new airport will take 23 months to build and will have a capacity to handle 1.5 million passengers a year, seeking to boost infrastructure in West Africa, a region that suffers from chronic transport problems.
The new airport would "open up the country and ease air links between Mali and other countries, improving commercial connections and reducing costs", U.S. envoy to Mali Gillian Milovanovic said at the signing ceremony late on Tuesday.
"For example, fruit and vegetable producers will be able to access regional markets more easily (and) new markets and destinations will come within reach," she added.
Bamako's runway will be lengthened by 500 metres and a new cargo hangar will be built as part of the project.
Aside from poor infrastructure, a lack of reliable airlines further complicates travel and transport in West Africa.
The accord follows an agreement signed in 2006 by the MCC, which provides grants to poor countries that meet criteria on good governance and economic freedoms, and which is worth $461 million to Mali over five years.
The project is aimed at increasing agricultural production and productivity, and expanding the land-locked West African nation's access to markets and trade.
Mali is also a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism in the region, where al Qaeda's local wing has stepped up attacks on national armies, kidnappings of foreigners and is profiting from the drugs trade. (Reuters)
