The Mali Empire maintained a semi-professional, full-time army to defend its borders. It was a well-organized army with an elite corps of horsemen and infantry in each battalion. The entire nation was mobilized, and each clan was required to provide a certain number of soldiers of fighting age.

The army consisted of 100,000 soldiers, of which 10,000 were cavalry. In addition to weapons, it was equipped with war canoes and ships. Most of the dugout canoes had a structure made of a single log from a single massive tree trunk. They were over-carved.

Weapons were spears and bows with poisoned ironhead arrows. Swords and spears were the preferred weapons of the cavalry. Imperial Mali riders used iron helmets and spiked armor for defense, as well as shields.