France begins 2025 with a further reduction in its military presence in the former African colony, but new tensions flared this week with controversial comments from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Chad, Senegal and now Ivory Coast have joined Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in asking France to withdraw its troops from their countries. The reasons range from growing anti-French sentiment to calls for greater sovereignty and closer ties with other foreign powers. But the impact is the same.
“French policy in Africa is clearly broken,” said Thierry Villecoulon, a researcher at the Africa Center of the French Institute of International Relations. “The withdrawal of French troops, and basically the end of the French military presence in Africa, is symbolic of that collapse.”
Relations between France and Africa have not improved in recent days. President Macron suggested on Monday that some Sahel countries had forgotten to thank French troops for spearheading the decade-long fight against Islamic rebels.
This drew harsh criticism from the leaders of Chad and Senegal. French authorities say Mr Macron’s comments were taken out of context.
Jean-Pierre Morny, deputy director of the French Institute for International Strategic Studies think tank, believes France needs to focus on long-term relationships with French-speaking African countries, rather than focusing on immediate impacts. He said that
He said France should think less about playing big brother and more about a shared future of development and security for Africa.
Last year, Macron’s government announced plans to reduce its military presence on the continent, which also has troops in Gabon and Djibouti, to become more responsive to each country’s demands.
France is expanding its ties beyond French-speaking Africa. For example, its two largest trading partners are Nigeria and South Africa.
But analyst Bill Couron predicts France’s long-term influence in Africa will remain limited at best.
“There is little the French government can do and it is favoring Russia and other non-Western countries.”
He said France’s strategic priorities would shift to potential conflicts in Europe.
