Ivory Coast says French troops will leave the country after decades | Military Affairs

Ivory Coast is the latest West African country to expel its former colonial power after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Ivory Coast has announced that French troops will leave the country this month after decades of military occupation, the latest African country to downgrade military ties with its former ruler.

In a year-end address to the nation on Tuesday, President Alassane Ouattara said the 43rd BIMA naval unit in Port-Bouet in Abidjan – where French troops were stationed – will be “handed over” to the Ivory Coast's armed forces from January 2025.

“We can be proud of our army that is working in a modern way now. It is in this context that we have decided on the collective and orderly withdrawal of French troops” from the Ivory Coast, said Ouattara.

France, which ended its colonial rule in West Africa in the 1960s, has about 1,000 troops in Ivory Coast, according to reports.

Ivory Coast is the latest West African country to expel French troops after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In November, within a few hours of each other, Senegal and Chad also announced the departure of French troops from their country.

On December 26, France returned its first military base to Chad, the last country in the Sahel to host French troops.

Ivory Coast remains an important ally of France. The downgrading of military ties comes as France tries to revive its waning political and military influence on the African continent by developing a new military strategy that will drastically reduce its existing military presence across the continent.

France has now been withdrawn from more than 70 percent of African countries where it has had troops since the end of colonial rule. The French remain in Djibouti only, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 personnel.

Analysts described the development as part of a wider structural change in the region's negotiations with Paris amid growing local sentiment against France, particularly in countries hit by coups.

After expelling French troops, the military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have moved closer to Russia.