Ivory Coast announces end of French military presence

Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will leave the country after a decades-long military presence, the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former colonial power.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the pullout would begin in January 2025. France has had up to 600 troops in Ivory Coast.

“We have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces in Ivory Coast,” he said, adding that the military infantry battalion of Port Bouet that is run by the French army will be handed over to Ivorian troops.

The withdrawals reflect growing anti-French sentiment across parts of West Africa fuelled by demands for greater autonomy and dissatisfaction with France’s role in regional security and governance.

Ouattara'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 the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris.

French withdrawal

France has suffered similar setbacks in several West African countries in recent years, including Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso, where French troops that have been on the ground for many years have been kicked out.

Several West African nations — including coup-hit Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — have recently asked the French to leave. Among them are also most recently Senegal and Chad, 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 military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa.

France has now been kicked out of more than 70 percent 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.

Analysts have described the developments as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris amid growing local sentiments against France, especially in coup-hit countries.