Côte d’Ivoire announces withdrawal of French forces

Côte d’Ivoire has announced that French troops will withdraw from the country, making it the latest African nation to reduce military ties with its former colonial power.

In an end-of-year address, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the withdrawal would begin this month and reflected the modernisation of the nation’s army.

“In this context, we have decided on the coordinated and organised withdrawal of French forces,” Ouattara said, adding that the military infantry battalion of Port Bouét that is run by the French army will be handed over to Ivorian troops.

French forces have had a decades-long military presence in Côte d’Ivoire, with about 600 personnel in the country when the announcement was made on Tuesday.

Côte d’Ivoire’s decision follows that of other leaders across West Africa, where France’s militaries are being asked to leave. Analysts have described the trend as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris.

Those nations include coup-hit Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Chad, which is considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa.

The downscaling of military ties comes as France has been making efforts to revive its waning political and military influence on the continent by devising a new strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa.

France has now been kicked out of more than 70% of African countries where it had a troop presence since ending its colonial rule in the 1960s. French troops will now remain only in Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 troops.

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

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