Ivory Coast takes control of last remaining French base as French military departs

Ivory Coast officially took control of the last remaining French military base in the country on Thursday as the majority of French forces departed from countries across West Africa.

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Some 80 French servicemen will continue to stay in the country to advise and train the Ivorian military, according to Téné Birahima Ouattara, the Ivorian defence and state minister, at a joint conference with the French Minister of the Armed Forces.

“The world is changing and changing fast. It’s clear that our defence relationship also had to evolve and be based more on future prospects in the face of the realities of threats and those of a world that has become complex in terms of security, and not on a defence relationship inspired by the past,” Ouattara said.

“France is transforming its presence. France is not disappearing,” said Sébastien Lecornu, French Minister for the Armed Forces.

Ivory Coast’s announcement follows that of other leaders across West Africa, where France’s militaries are being asked to leave. Analysts have described the requests for French troops to leave Africa as part of a broader structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris amid growing local sentiments against France, especially in coup-hit countries.

French troops who have been long been on the ground have in recent years been kicked out from several West African countries including Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Chad, considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa.

France has now been asked to leave more than 70 per cent of African countries where it had a troop presence since ending its colonial rule. The French remain only in Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 troops.

After expelling French troops, military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have moved closer to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel who have been accused of abuses against civilians.

However, the security situation has worsened in those countries, with increasing numbers of extremist attacks and civilian deaths from both armed groups and government forces.

The French government has been making efforts to revive its waning political and military influence on the continent by devising a new military strategy.