Bamako, Mali

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

In Bamako’s business district, hundreds of cars and motorcycles are stuck day and night on a boulevard, waiting for one of the three gas stations lining it to distribute fuel, while the Malian capital is under a blockade imposed by jihadists, making daily life difficult for residents.

“I’ve been here for three days. I’ve spent two nights here,” laments Karim Coulibaly, a bus driver in his thirties who is “unemployed” due to a lack of gasoline.

In three days, only one tanker truck has come to refill the tanks. The fuel ran out in an hour under the supervision of law enforcement.

As everywhere else in the capital, supplies are rationed to 10,000 CFA francs (€15), or about 13 liters of gasoline.

A liter, sold at the pump for 725 CFA francs (€1.10), is resold on the black market for 2,000 CFA francs (€3), according to residents interviewed by AFP.

“We have no choice. It’s take it or leave it,” said one consumer who wished to remain anonymous

Since September, the Islamic and Muslim Support Group (JNIM), affiliated with Al-Qaeda, has been attacking fuel tankers coming mainly from Senegal and Ivory Coast, through which most of Mali’s imports transit.

– Residents forced into unemployment –

According to JNIM, the blockade is a retaliatory measure following the authorities’ ban on the sale of fuel outside gas stations in rural areas, where fuel is transported in jerry cans to be sold later. The measure was intended to cut off the jihadists’ supply lines, according to the authorities.

Despite army escorts, several trucks have been set on fire, and drivers and soldiers have been killed or kidnapped in jihadist ambushes.

The US embassy in Mali has urged its citizens to “leave immediately” due to “the unpredictable nature of the security situation in Bamako.”

Italy and Germany have also asked their citizens to leave the country.

With the blockade having been in place for two weeks in the capital, the economy of this landlocked Sahelian country is slowing down.

“I haven’t been to work for a week,” explains Oumar Diallo, a civil servant in the kilometer-long queue.

The shortage is also exacerbating the recurring power cuts that have been crippling Mali’s economy for five years, as the country’s energy is mainly thermal.

– Electricity shortage –

Énergie du Mali (EDM) has reduced the electricity supply from 19 hours a day to six hours.

Mamadou Coulibaly, a 23-year-old electrician, has been unable to work for a week because he cannot be reached as his phone and external batteries are dead.

At his last customer’s house, he had to wait hours for the power to come back on—which it never did—to locate an electrical fault. To get home, he had to push his motorcycle 20 kilometers on foot. “Since then, I’ve been here, with no money, no work, no means of transportation…,” he complains.

On Sunday evening, the government announced that schools and universities would be closed for two weeks due to the shortage.

In the middle of the harvest season, some agricultural machinery cannot operate due to a lack of fuel in the rest of the country.

“Usually, at this time of year, the prices of rice and millet fall because it’s harvest season. This year, that’s not the case,” laments Ousmane Dao, 32, a grain seller at the Marché Rose in Bamako.

In grocery stores, too, the fuel shortage is affecting food stocks. “We’re starting to run out of spaghetti, macaroni, and yogurt, even though they’re made here. Suppliers don’t have the means to produce them because of the lack of electricity,” says Hamidou Maïga in his Bamako shop

Faced with this emergency, Bamako residents are trying to find alternative solutions. The wealthiest are investing in solar panels to provide themselves with electricity.

Like many young people on motorcycles, Chaka Doumbia, a 22-year-old mechanic, is now relying on his resourcefulness: “I mix solvent to dilute the paint with alcohol. With that, we have enough to run our engines.” However, if the mixture is not properly balanced, there is a risk of setting the machine on fire.

Humaniterre with AFP