A month-long blockade on fuel imports to Mali’s capital Bamako by al-Qaida-linked insurgents is hitting the landlocked West African country’s economy.
Businesses are being forced to shut down and residents face lengthy queues and price hikes at petrol stations, with the junta-run government trying to bring in fuel supplies under army escort.
Several analysts have noted that the militants are trying to undermine the government’s legitimacy and stoke public discontent as they widen their reach across Mali amid a longstanding crisis in which different insurgent groups have vied for control of major cities since 2012. Islamist insurgents have since May attacked Malian and foreign-owned businesses, including cement factories, sugar factories, and mines. Multinational miners including Barrick Mining and B2Gold operate in the country, which is one of Africa’s biggest gold producers.