Ivory Coast says French troops to leave country after decades

Ivory Coast is the latest West African federation to expel troops of erstwhile assemblage powerfulness aft Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Ivory Coast has announced that French troops volition permission the state this period aft a decades-long subject presence, becoming the latest African federation to downscale subject ties with its erstwhile coloniser.

In an end-of-year code to the federation connected Tuesday, President Alassane Ouattara said the 43rd BIMA marine infantry battalion astatine Port-Bouet successful Abidjan – wherever French troops were stationed – “will beryllium handed over” to Ivory Coast’s equipped forces arsenic of January 2025.

“We tin beryllium arrogant of our army, whose modernisation is present effective. It is successful this discourse that we person decided connected the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces” from Ivory Coast, Ouattara said.

France, whose assemblage regularisation successful West Africa ended successful the 1960s, has astir 1,000 soldiers successful Ivory Coast, according to reports.

Ivory Coast is the latest West African federation to expel French troops aft Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In November, wrong hours of each other, Senegal and Chad besides announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil.

On December 26, France returned its archetypal military basal to Chad, the past Sahel federation to big French troops.

Ivory Coast remains an important state of France. The downscaling of subject ties comes arsenic France tries to revive its waning governmental and subject power connected the African continent by devising a caller subject strategy that would sharply trim its imperishable unit beingness crossed the continent.

France has present been kicked retired of much than 70 percent of African countries wherever it had a unit beingness since the extremity of its assemblage rule. The French stay lone successful Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 personnel.

Analysts person described the developments arsenic portion of the wider structural translation successful the region’s engagement with Paris amid increasing section sentiments against France, particularly successful coup-hit countries.

After expelling the French troops, subject leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso person moved person to Russia.