🔗 Share this article

Mali has suspended schools and universities countrywide due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a blockade on fuel imports enforced by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education announced on state television that all education institutions would be inactive until 9 November, noting that the movement of personnel and students had been impacted by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the administration were “doing everything possible” to resolve the emergency so that classes could continue on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network enforced a embargo by striking transport vehicles on key routes.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are brought in by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The junta-led administration had previously reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has continued.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate the country amid the worsening energy crisis and growing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of the military leader, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.

The junta had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to address the ongoing instability prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in a decade ago to address the growing rebellion.

Both have left since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to address the violence.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain beyond state authority.