The Super Eagles will face Burkina Faso in the final on Sunday at the National Stadium in Soweto.
Nigeria took the lead on 25 minutes through a diving header inside the box by defender Elderson Echiejile off a low cross by Victor Moses from the right.
They doubled their advantage on the half hour when Brown Ideye finished off another low cross from the right, this time by Emmanuel Emenike.
Emenike netted his fourth goal of the tournament a minute before the break when his shot off an edge-of-box free kick took a deflection beyond goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa.
Substitute Ahmed Musa slotted home the fourth goal for Nigeria on 60 minutes when he burst clear.
Mali pulled a goal back in the 75th minute through substitute Fantamady Diarra, who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama as the Nigerian defence suffered a lapse in concentration.
Emenike let fly a powerful shot in the 87th minute, but his effort was wide of the target.
In stoppage time, Diarra could have pulled another goal back twice but his efforts went narrowly side.
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi:
"Mali are a good team with a top player like Seydou Keita.
"But they are not very fast at the back and we took advantage of this to score our first two goals."
Mali coach Patrice Carteron:
"I'm still proud of this team.
"We worked hard even though we did not reach the final."
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