Paris no longer has any permanent camps in west or central Africa after France formally returned its final two military bases in Senegal on Thursday.
The departure marks the end of the French army’s 65-year presence in Senegal and follows other withdrawals throughout the continent as former colonies increasingly turn against their former ruler.
In a ceremony attended by senior French and Senegalese officials, including General Pascal Ianni, the commander of French forces in Africa, and Senegalese chief of staff General Mbaye Cisse, France returned Camp Geille, its largest base in the west African nation, along with its airfield at Dakar airport.
After a three-month departure process that started in March, about 350 French soldiers who were mainly assigned to carry out joint operations with the Senegalese army are now departing.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the president of Senegal, demanded that France remove its troops from the country by 2025 after vowing radical change and winning a landslide victory in the 2024 elections. However, Faye has insisted that Senegal will continue to cooperate with Paris, in contrast to the leaders of other former colonies, including junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
Senegal became one of France’s most steadfast African allies after gaining independence in 1960 and has hosted French troops there throughout its history. Macky Sall, Faye’s predecessor, carried on that custom. Senegal would treat France like any other foreign partner, according to Faye, who ran on a platform that promised a clean break with the Sall era.
In an effort to increase his nation’s self-sufficiency, the president set a deadline for all foreign armies to leave by the end of 2025. Faye stated at the end of 2024 that “France remains an important partner for Senegal” and that “Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,”
Faye has also called on Paris to issue an apology for colonial crimes, such as the killing of dozens of African soldiers who had served in France during World War II on December 1, 1944.
Paris has shut down or scaled back its military presence at bases throughout its former empire as governments in Africa begin to doubt the country’s military presence. After decades of French occupation, France returned its only surviving base in Ivory Coast in February. The previous month, France relinquished its final military base in the Sahel region, Kossei in Chad.
From 2020 to 2023, military dictators triumphed in coups in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. For assistance in combating the jihadist insurgency that has been raging in the Sahel for ten years, all have severed their ties with France and turned to Russia. Another former French colony that the Kremlin has dispatched mercenaries to, the Central African Republic, has also called for a French withdrawal.
A camp shared with the Central African country has been established by the army at its base in Gabon.
After Thursday’s withdrawal, only the small country of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa will have a permanent French army base. With a population of about 1,500, France plans to establish its military headquarters for Africa at its base in Djibouti.
