Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Petrol Crisis

Mali has suspended schools and universities countrywide due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a embargo on energy resources enforced by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister announced on national broadcast that all learning centers would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the movement of staff and pupils had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the administration were “making every effort” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a petrol crisis, especially in the main city, after insurgents from an jihadist network initiated a restriction by striking fuel trucks on key routes.

The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently become deserted.

The military government had earlier this month assured 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 leave the country amid the worsening energy crisis and growing safety issues.

It explained that the energy interruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is presently governed by a military junta under the leadership of General Goïta, who took control in a takeover in 2021.

The ruling council had popular support when it took power, committing to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in previously to combat the growing rebellion.

These forces have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has hired Russian mercenaries to address the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.