Mali’s capital faces diesel shortage

2026-03-10 - 23:34

People line up to fill the tanks of their vehicles at a fuel station in Bamako. (EPA Images pic) BAMAKO: Drivers in the Malian capital are facing a diesel shortage because the national energy company is receiving priority supplies to cope with power outages, the oil companies’ association said on Tuesday. The landlocked West African nation is dependent on imports via tanker trucks and has recently faced fuel shortages due to jihadist attacks on the truck convoys. Since September, fighters from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, which is linked to Al-Qaeda and known by its acronym JNIM, have sought to cripple Mali’s economy and undermine its junta. They have been blocking and sometimes attacking fuel tankers entering Mali and placing total blockades on certain strategic routes leading to the capital, Bamako. Fuel supplies had significantly increased since December, allowing the economy to recover. But in recent days, several service stations in Bamako have run out of diesel. On Tuesday long queues formed outside Bamako’s few remaining supply points, an AFP journalist observed. “Trucks transporting sand and gravel have run dry” and are no longer able to find diesel, the Sand Producers Association told AFP. According to Studio Tamani, a radio station funded by a Swiss foundation, more than 100 vehicles used for public transport were out of service in Bamako on Monday due to lack of fuel. “Diesel fuel is primarily intended for Energie du Mali (EDM)” which is under heavy strain due to a heatwave, a member of the oil companies’ association told AFP. In Bamako and surrounding areas, the electricity supply has deteriorated in recent days. On social media many Malians are expressing frustration and urging the military government to find a solution for the ongoing month of Ramadan and during the intense heat. EDM, which primarily operates oil and diesel power plants, “takes all” the diesel that comes in, said another member of the Malian oil companies’ association. Mali’s fuel supply has been disrupted by insecurity, a shortage of tanker trucks and reluctant transporters, the source added. At the end of January, JNIM “summarily executed 10 long-haul truck drivers and two teenage apprentices” near the Senegalese border, according to a report on Tuesday by Human Rights Watch.