Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
France fades in Africa as Ivory Coast cuts ties
The Ivory Coast has ordered French forces to leave the country by August 2025. In a New Year’s Eve address, President Alassane Ouattara exhorted Ivorians to “be proud of our army, whose modernization is now effective.”
While Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, it is still home to 600 French troops, the biggest remaining contingent in West Africa. It also hosts a French military base in Abidjan, which will be turned over in January and renamed after Gen. Ouattara Thomas d'Aquin, the first chief of staff of the Ivorian Army.
The announcement from Abidjan follows Chad’s decision last month to remove French troops, the latest in a wave of expulsions from former colonies in recent years. France withdrew from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger after a series of coups, and will be leaving Senegal by 2025. Anti-colonial sentiment and protests against a lack of benefits from the former colonial power have seen over 70% of African countries cut military ties with Paris, leaving only Djibouti and Gabon, with 1,500 and 350 troops, respectively.
France out, who’s in? France’s exit leaves a vacuum that other powers, including Russia, China, and Turkey have sought to fill as African nations battle Islamic insurgents. However, Russia’s Wagner Group had been accused of human rights abuses and violence in the Sahel has reportedly worsened since France withdrew.