Côte d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara has announced that French forces would withdraw from its bases in the country starting January, making it the latest African nation to cut ties with former colonial power.
President Quattara made the disclosure during a new massage on Tuesday.
He said “We can be proud of our army, whose modernization is now effective. It is in this context that we have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces from Ivory Coast.”
He added that the 43rd BIMA marine infantry battalion at Port-Bouet in Abidjan where French troops are currently stationed “will be handed over” to Ivory Coast’s armed forces as of January 2025.
France has been preparing for years what it called a “reorganisation” of military relations after the forced departure of its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where governments hostile to the ex-colonial ruler have come to power.
Last month, within hours of each other, Senegal and Chad announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil.
On December 26, France returned a first military base to Chad the last Sahel nation to host French troops.
Côte d’Ivoire also known as Ivory Coast remained an important ally of France with about 1,000 French soldiers deployed to the 43rd BIMA to assist in particular with the fight against jihadists who regularly strike the Sahel region, as well as the north of some countries along the Gulf of Guinea.
However, Ouattara who has been in office since 2010 while announcing French forces departure said the presidential election slated for October 2025, would be “peaceful” as well as “transparent and democratic”.
