(Adnkronos) – The crisis in Mali is worsening, caused by the fuel supply blockade imposed for over a month by a jihadist group, effectively an economic siege on the military junta that took control of the African country in 2021. The Minister of Education, Amadou Sy Savane, announced two days ago that, due to the fuel and thus electricity shortage, schools and universities will remain closed throughout the country until November 10, assuring that the government “is doing everything possible” to resolve the crisis by that date.
The fuel standoff began in early September when the Islamist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (Jnim), linked to al Qaeda, announced a ban on fuel imports from neighboring countries, Senegal and Ivory Coast, in response to the government’s cut in supplies to remote areas with the aim of forcing jihadists out of their hideouts.
The blockade, imposed with attacks along the highways, has left hundreds of fuel tankers stranded at the border, and is strangling Mali’s already fragile economy, which relies mainly on imports from neighboring countries for its energy needs. The crisis is being felt primarily in the capital, Bamako, where there are long queues at gas stations that still sell fuel.
The crisis is also driving up the prices of basic necessities, worsening living conditions in the country, the sixth least developed in the world with half of its 25 million inhabitants living below the poverty line.
The lack of electricity is also compromising the operations of the armed forces, which this week are trying on one hand to secure supplies by escorting fuel tankers to the capital and on the other hand are intensifying air raids on Jnim positions.
