Côte d’Ivoire has said it will become the latest African country to kick out French troops amid the ongoing collapse of Paris’ “Francafrique” influence on the continent.
In an end-of-year address on December 31, the West African country’s President Alassane Ouattara declared that the 1,000 French troops stationed in Côte d’Ivoire would be leaving before the end of January.
The troops will hand over their base located on the outskirts of the port city of Abidjan, the country’s economic capital.
Ouattara cited the development of the nation’s own military as being behind the change.
“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 in Côte d’Ivoire,” he said in the address.
“Thus, the camp of the 43rd BIMA, the Marine Infantry Battalion of Port-Bouët, will be returned to the Armed Forces of Côte d’Ivoire from this month of January 2025.”
He added that the French base would be renamed after General Ouattara Thomas d’Aquin, the first-ever chief of staff of the country’s military.
The exit of French forces from Côte d’Ivoire follows similar exits from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Senegal, the last of which also confirmed on December 31 a similar exit of French troops would take place this year.
French troops have traditionally maintained a substantial presence in African nations centred around the Sahel since the end of its colonial period in the 1960s, with such forces being used to fight jihadists in recent years.
France’s waning influence comes amid a drift in the region towards improving relations with non-Western countries such as Russia and China.
Russia’s Wagner Group paramilitary has previously been accused of aiding some military regimes in the region.
France has started removing its fighter jets from central African country Chad as its armed forces begin their exit from the former French colony. https://t.co/wSkY5XnMA6
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 11, 2024
