Swiss shipping giant MSC resumes deliveries to Mali
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening:
Swiss shipping giant MSC resumes deliveries to Mali
Geneva-based shipping giant MSC has announced the resumption of its overland deliveries to Mali. They had been interrupted by security problems and fuel shortages caused by a jihadist blockade.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
For several weeks, jihadists from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Groupe de soutien à l’islam et aux musulmans (JNIM) have been imposing a blockade on fuel imports as far away as Bamako, paralysing the economy of the landlocked, import-dependent Sahelian country.
On November 6, MSC announced that it was suspending its overland deliveries of goods to Mali “until further notice”, due to “security problems” and the “fuel shortage”.
On Monday, the group reversed this decision following an agreement with the Malian government. “Following our fruitful discussions, we have great pleasure in informing you that our activities have resumed, thereby suspending the communiqué of 6 November. We therefore confirm the resumption of our operations in Mali”, announced the management of MSC Mali in a letter addressed to the Malian Minister of Transport.
Last week, France’s CMA-CGM, the world’s third largest shipowner, had also announced that it was suspending its operations in Mali, before reversing this decision following an agreement with the authorities.
More
Mali: Switzerland concerned about human rights and war crimes
The JNIM jihadist blockade has prompted the Malian government to close schools for a fortnight. It is preventing agricultural harvests in several regions and seriously disrupting access to electricity.
On Monday, classes gradually resumed in Bamako and several Malian towns, according to local sources contacted by AFP. The United States and the Britain have announced the withdrawal of their non-essential personnel from Mali, and several foreign embassies, including France, have asked their nationals to leave the country.
The military in power in Mali since two coups d’état in 2020 and 2021 had promised to stem the jihadist expansion that has rocked the country for more than a decade.
Translated from French by DeepL/mga
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
External Content
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.