In 2012 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 75,000 copies throughout Europe.

On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 86 out of 100, indicating "Universal acclaim.

Club gave the album a grade of A−, writing "Welcome To Mali sounds heavily produced but not overproduced, and even with the pings and whizzing, Amadou’s playing and the pair’s singing insure it never sounds less than organic.

"[4] In another positive review, Pitchfork Media's Joe Tangari wrote: "This album is an affirmation of global connectivity and an emerging global culture that transcends and repurposes tradition as it sees fit-- the sound of Mali merging with the world at large.

"[5] Paste's Nick Marino, on the other hand, called the album "frustratingly uneven," writing: "[D]espite moments of exuberance, it can also feel like a mundane grind [...]"[6] In August 2009, the webzine Pitchfork Media named Sabali the 249th track in their staff list "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s"[7] and earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album nomination in 2010.