French troops to leave Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast has announced that French troops will leave the country this month after a decades-long military presence, becoming the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former coloniser, reports Al Jazeera. In an end-of-year address to the nation on Tuesday, President Alassane Ouattara said the 43rd BIMA marine infantry battalion at Port-Bouet in Abidjan – where French troops were stationed – ‘will be handed over’ to Ivory Coast’s armed forces as of January 2025. ‘We can be proud of our army, whose modernisation is now effective. It is in this context that we have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces’ from Ivory Coast, Ouattara said. France, whose colonial rule in West Africa ended in the 1960s, has nearly 1 000 soldiers in Ivory Coast, according to reports. Ivory Coast is the latest West African nation to expel French troops after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In November, within hours of each other, Senegal and Chad also announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil. On 26 December, France returned its first military base to Chad, the last Sahel nation to host French troops. Ivory Coast remains an important ally of France.

Full Al Jazeera report

It's been a tumultuous month for France and its relationship with former colonies in Africa, as its influence on the continent faces the biggest challenge in decades, according to The Independent. The publication says as Paris was devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa, two of its closest allies struck a double blow. The Government of Chad, considered France's most stable and loyal partner in Africa, announced on its Independence Day it was ending defence cooperation to redefine its sovereignty.’ And in an interview published hours later by Le Monde, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said it was ‘obvious’ that soon French soldiers wouldn't be on Senegalese soil. ‘Just because the French have been here since the slavery period doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do otherwise,’ said Faye. The announcements came as France was making efforts to revive waning influence on the continent. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was completing a visit to Chad and Ethiopia, and President Emmanuel Macron for the first time had recognised the killing of as many as 400 West African soldiers by the French Army in 1944. ‘Chad’s decision marks the final nail in the coffin of France’s post-colonial military dominance in the entire Sahel region,’ said Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, referring to the arid region south of the Sahara. The decisions by Senegal and Chad ‘are part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with France, in which Paris political and military influence continues to diminish,’ Durmaz added. They follow the ousting of French forces in recent years by military-led governments in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, where local sentiments turned sour following years of French forces fighting alongside local ones in the face of stubborn Islamic extremist insurgencies.

The French army earlier this year set up a command for Africa, similar to the US’ AFRICOM. Newly appointed commander Pascal Ianni specialises in influence and information warfare – a need highlighted by Russia's growing presence in Africa. Meanwhile, France is trying to boost its economic presence in Africa’s anglophone countries like Nigeria, analysts said. Already, its two biggest trading partners on the continent are Nigeria and South Africa. At the time of Chad’s announcement, Macron was hosting talks with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, according to The Independent. But critics say keeping boots on the ground also has allowed Paris to retain influence and protect political regimes favorable to France. ‘The countries of Francophone Africa want a change in the nature of this relationship,’ said Gilles Yabi, head of the West Africa Citizen Think Tank. Growing anti-French sentiment has led to street protests in several West and North African countries, while governments that gained power on pledges of redefining relationships with the West say ties with France have not benefited the population. They want to explore options with Russia, China, Turkey and other powers. Military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso who expelled the French military have moved closer to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel who have been accused of abuses against civilians. But the security situation has worsened in those countries, with increasing numbers of extremist attacks and civilian deaths from both armed groups and government forces.

Full report in The Independent