In the historic city of Tombouctou, where temperatures regularly soar above 40 degrees Celsius in the shade, life has come to a standstill. For days, not a single fan has spun, refrigerators sit idle, and taps run dry. The local thermal power plant, operated by the state-owned company Énergie du Mali (EDM-SA), is completely shut down. Without fuel for its generators, the entire city has been thrown back into a pre-industrial era, dragging down the Société malienne de gestion de l’eau potable (Somagep) with it. This is no longer just an infrastructure crisis—it is an invisible blockade that paralyses tens of thousands of residents.
The logistics siege: fuel as a weapon
While Bamako endures chronic power cuts, Tombouctou suffers a double burden: its remote geography and precarious security. The current crisis is the direct result of a fuel shortage that has dragged on for over a month.
- JNIM’s embargo: For months, jihadist groups from the Groupe de soutien à l’islam et aux musulmans have imposed a suffocating blockade on the main road axes leading to the north. Tanker trucks that usually supply the city are targeted, blocked, or escorted only sporadically.
- Prohibitive cost of alternative routes: Cut off from regular supply lines, the city relies on informal circuits or slow, rare military convoys. The price of a litre of fuel on the black market has skyrocketed, making it impossible for small businesses or private generators to operate.
Immediate health impact
Without electricity, the cold chain is broken, threatening the preservation of scarce food and medicines. At the regional hospital of Tombouctou, the situation borders on catastrophe, forcing staff to prioritise only the most vital emergencies under the dim light of mobile phones or insufficient backup solar installations.
State abandonment denounced
Faced with this emergency, local authorities have announced the distribution of drinking water via tanker trucks to alleviate the shortage. But these stopgap humanitarian measures do little to mask the growing resentment among the population. Residents feel abandoned on the periphery of the capital’s priorities. The promise of securing strategic roads and achieving energy autonomy remains unfulfilled. By choosing a purely military approach to secure supply flows without ensuring basic services, the Malian state leaves Somagep and EDM powerless against the disruptions.
A city on life support
Tombouctou cannot survive indefinitely on empty generators. If Mali’s transition is to prove its ability to govern the entire territory, reclaiming basic public services is as crucial as military reconquest. As long as roads remain cut and EDM’s tankers cannot safely reach the north, the pearl of the desert will continue to dim, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
