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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a critical energy crisis caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education announced on state television that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the movement of staff and learners had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to resolve the emergency so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.

For weeks, the nation has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a blockade by attacking transport vehicles on primary roads.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are transported by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly grown silent.

The military government had earlier this month reassured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the worsening energy crisis and escalating security concerns.

It said that the energy interruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in 2021.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it assumed control, committing to deal with the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in previously to address the escalating insurgency.

These forces have left since the new administration came in, and the current administration has employed private military contractors to address the instability.

However, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.