The landlocked West African nation of Mali is being squeezed by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by jihadi militants. Education Minister Amadou Sy Savane announced on late Sunday that schools nationwide will be shut for two weeks because the scarcity of fuel makes it difficult for staff to get to work, as is the case with most other workers.
For a country that relies on fuel imports from neighbouring Senegal and the Ivory Coast, the blockade has been a major setback for Mali’s military junta. Mali, a country of 25 million people, has battled jihadi militants for several decades, alongside neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Militants from the al-Qaida-backed Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin group announced a ban on fuel imports from neighbouring countries into Mali in early September, after authorities said early this year they were cutting down fuel supplies to remote areas as a measure to squeeze the jihadis in their hideouts.
The blockade has squeezed Mali’s fragile economy and left hundreds of fuel trucks stranded at the border. JNIM is the most potent armed group in the Sahel, a vast strip of semi-arid desert stretching from North Africa to West Africa. Observers say the militants are using the fuel blockade as a show of force despite Malian military strikes against them.
The militants have targeted transport companies along major roads, forcing some of them to stop fuel operations. According to Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at the Control Risks Group consulting firm, the blockade is used as a tool to pressure commercial operators and residents to distance themselves from the military authorities, therefore undermining the legitimacy and authority of Mali’s military Government.
Mali’s junta has struggled to end the security crisis that brought it to power Military leaders in Mali staged a coup in 2020, saying it was necessary to end decades of security crises. Following similar coups in Niger and Burkina Faso, the three neighbours expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units to help them fight jihadis.
