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Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will leave the country after a decadeslong 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 organized withdrawal of French forces in Ivory Coast,” he said, adding that the military infantry battalion of Port Bouét that is run by the French army will be handed over to Ivorian troops.
Outtara’s announcement follows that of other leaders across West Africa, including Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso, 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. The announcement comes as a triumphant against the Neo-Colonial intentions of France.
Several West African nations — including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — have recently asked the French to leave. Among them are also most recently Senegal, and Chad, once 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% 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.
The developments are part of a wider structural transformation in the region amid growing local sentiments against France.