• Growing anti-French sentiment has forced French withdrawals from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Ivory Coast, and Senegal

ISTANBUL

As France officially hands over its last remaining military bases in Senegal on Thursday, the transfer marks the end of the former colonizer’s decades-long military presence in West and Central Africa.

The move concludes France’s gradual withdrawal from Senegal, following the return of other military sites earlier this year. With this transfer, France’s military footprint in Africa is now reduced to Djibouti and Gabon – though only Djibouti is expected to continue hosting a permanent French military base.

French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged this strategic shift during a visit to Djibouti in December 2024, stating that France’s role in Africa was “evolving because the world in Africa is evolving – public opinion is changing, and governments are changing.”

A wave of anti-French sentiment, rooted in colonial legacies and accusations of neo-colonial influence, has driven military and diplomatic disengagement across Africa, particularly following a spate of coups in the Sahel.

Here’s a breakdown of France’s military withdrawals from Africa in recent years:

Mali (2021-2022)

France’s pullout began in earnest in Mali, where joint military operations were suspended in June 2021 after a coup that brought Col. Assimi Goita to power.

This followed the resignation of Mali’s transitional president and prime minister. Macron soon announced the end of Operation Barkhane – a major counterterrorism deployment launched in 2014 involving 5,000 troops across the G5 Sahel countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.

By Aug. 15, 2022, the last French troops had left Mali. “Our military support for African countries in the region will continue, but according to new principles that we have defined with them,” Macron said in November that year.

Burkina Faso (2023)

The departure from Burkina Faso came after another coup – this one in September 2022, led by Capt. Ibrahim Traore.

French troops, once stationed under a 2018 military pact, became the target of growing domestic criticism and anti-French protests for perceived ineffectiveness in combating insurgencies.

Burkina Faso terminated the military agreement in January 2023, after which France withdrew its roughly 400 special forces.

A flag-lowering ceremony on February 19 marked the formal end of operations.

Niger (2023)

France’s most significant military hub in the Sahel was in Niger, but after Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023, the military government annulled several cooperation agreements with Paris.

France had a major military base in Niger with about 1,000 to 1,500 troops, which played a crucial role in operations in the troubled Sahel region, and gained more importance after the withdrawal from Mali and Burkina Faso.

However, Niger, once Paris’s last remaining counterterror ally in the region, turned against France amid a new alliance formed with Mali and Burkina Faso.

The last French troops left Niger in December 2023, months after the three countries formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in September that year. The AES members officially left ECOWAS on Jan. 29, 2025.

Chad (2024-2025)

Chad terminated its defense cooperation agreement with France on Nov. 28, 2024, saying it aimed to “assert its full sovereignty and to redefine its strategic partnerships according to national priorities.”

However, Chad, which hosted around 1,000 French soldiers, emphasized that this decision did not mark a rupture in its historical ties with Paris.

President Mahamat Idriss Deby called the agreement “obsolete” and lacking “real added value.”

France began pulling out its personnel and equipment in December 2024. It completed its withdrawal from the Sergent Adji Kossei base in the capital N’Djamena on Jan. 30, 2025, one day ahead of a six-week deadline issued by the Chadian government.

Ivory Coast (2024-2025)

On Dec. 31, 2024, President Alassane Ouattara announced a “concerted and organized” withdrawal of French forces from the Ivory Coast, although military cooperation would continue.

On Feb. 20, 2025, France formally vacated the 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion base in Port Bouet, with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu attending the decommissioning ceremony.

Senegal (2024-2025)

Senegal is now the latest – and last – West African nation to see the departure of French troops. In November 2024, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye confirmed to French daily Le Monde: “There will soon be no more French soldiers in Senegal.”

The decision came after Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko openly questioned the necessity of French troops in a sovereign state and pushed back against Macron’s remarks that African countries had “forgotten to say thank you” to France for counterterrorism support in the Sahel.

In February 2025, Dakar and Paris agreed to set up a joint commission to oversee the withdrawal and base handovers, aiming to conclude the process by year’s end.

France began withdrawing on March 7, transferring key facilities in the Marechal and Saint-Exupery districts to Senegalese authorities.

The handover of the last bases on Thursday closes a chapter of more than 60 years of continuous French military presence in Senegal, and marks a symbolic turning point in Africa’s post-colonial efforts to reclaim security autonomy.