Rabat – The French military handed over its last military base and withdrew its troops on Thursday. This marks the end of a departure process that started in March.
France has officially handed over its two remaining military bases in Senegal, leaving the one-time colonial power with no permanent presence in West Africa.
The largest Military Camp Geille and the Airfield at Dakar have been officially presented to the Senegalese national armed forces.
This final handover was conducted during a ceremony on Thursday, attended by the top French and Senegalese officers, including the West African country’s military chief Mbaye Cisse.
Cisse said that this withdrawal supports the country’s new defence strategy. “Its primary goal is to affirm the autonomy of the Senegalese armed forces while contributing to peace in the subregion and Africa,” he affirmed.
This mutually agreed upon withdrawal is designed to begin a new phase of French–Senegalese bilateral relations, argued General Pascal Innai, head of the French forces.
This handover follows a three-month withdrawal process which has taken place since March, with the removal of 350 French military troops from their bases they have controlled since granting their former African colonies independence in 1960.
The new Senegalese President who was elected on a substantial mandate in 2024, stated shortly after taking office that having troops and military bases in Senegal was incompatible with national sovereignty.
Senegal’s new government took a hard line against the presence of French troops, coming within a broader regional backlash against the former colonial nation.
France also withdrew earlier this year from its permanent bases in Chad and the Ivory Coast. The governments in the new Alliance of Sahel States have expelled the French both militarily and diplomatically.
France will retain a small presence in some of these countries for the purposes of providing defense training and support to national militaries.
But whatever form France’s presence takes in Africa in the coming years, this withdrawal marks the formal end of Paris’s neo-colonialist military presence within the West African region.
