France prepares to hand back its only military case in Côte d’Ivoire
France is preparing to hand back its only military base in Côte d’Ivoire on February 20th, marking the further diminishment of French influence.
Reported by RFI on February 7th, the French soldiers will handover the base at Port-Bouet in the commercial capital of Abidjan after the Ivorian President announced the withdrawal in December.
President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara, in his end of year address, said, “we can be proud of our army, whose modernisation is now effective. It is in this context that we have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces,” reported by Al Jazeera.
French Defence Minister Sebastian Lecornu is expected to attend the event where a large ceremony will take place to mark the historic dismantling of military ties between Côte d’Ivoire and its former colonial power.
It’s estimated that 1,000 French soldiers were deployed and stationed at the base in Port-Bouet to help assist local forces in the fight against jihadists who have launched regular and devastating attacks across western Africa and the wider Sahel region.
In addition, France losing its military presence in Côte d’Ivoire raises concerns as the country is the world’s biggest cocoa producer and also has huge deposits of oil, gas, and gold, making it a strategic ally to Paris.
Whilst most soldiers will leave, it is expected that some 80 French troops are expected to remain at the base to carry out training exercises and monitor the transition of the base to Ivorian forces.
The withdrawal of troops is yet another devastating blow to French influence on the continent as France has now been kicked out of more than 70 percent of African countries where it had troops since the end of its colonial rule, according to Al Jazeera.
The latest withdrawal has been from Chad at the end of January, although France have claimed that military cooperation will continue, according to Maghrebi.
There has been a structural transformation in the African continent, particularly in coup-hit states, where growing sentiment against the former colonial power are on the rise. In response, we have seen states shift to increased military alignment with Russia including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
RFI, Al Jazeera, Maghrebi
