The West African nation Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Jihadist Blockade Intensifies Fuel Crisis

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Prolonged lines have been snaking around gas stations in the last few days

Mali has suspended educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage resulting from a embargo on energy resources enforced by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until the ninth of November, noting that the travel of staff and students had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that classes could resume on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a energy deficit, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by striking fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are transported by truck from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been winding around fuel outlets in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has endured.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would evacuate the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.

It said that the energy interruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta headed by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The military government had public backing when it came to authority, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a independence uprising in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in a decade ago to combat the increasing militant activity.

These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed Russian mercenaries to combat the violence.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain beyond state authority.

Michael Thomas
Michael Thomas

A tech journalist and innovation strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their impact on global markets.