🔗 Share this article

Mali has closed schools and colleges throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education announced on public media that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the travel of personnel and learners had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that classes could restart on November 10th.

For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a restriction by striking transport vehicles on key routes.

The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are brought in by road 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 normally bustling streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The junta-led administration had earlier this month reassured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.

It said that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is presently governed by a army council under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in 2021.

The military government had public backing when it took power, committing to address the long-running security crisis caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.

These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to combat the violence.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain outside government control.