Friday, July 18, 2025 - France has officially handed over its two remaining military bases in Senegal, ending its military presence in West Africa.
France returned Camp Geille, its largest base in Senegal,
and its airfield at Dakar’s airport in a ceremony on Thursday attended by top
French and Senegalese officials, including Senegalese Chief of the General
Staff Mbaye Cisse and General Pascal Ianni, the head of the French forces in
Africa.
The pullout ends the French army’s 65-year presence in
Senegal and comes after similar withdrawals across the continent as former
colonies increasingly turn their backs on the nation that once ruled them.
France’s withdrawal from Senegal also comes as the Sahel
region faces a growing conflict. The violence across Mali, Burkina Faso, and
Niger is threatening Gulf of Guinea nations to the south.
About 350 French soldiers, who had primarily been tasked
with conducting joint operations with the Senegalese army, are now leaving the
country, marking the end of a departure process that began in March.
General Cisse said the handover marked “an important turning
point in the rich and long military journey of our two countries”.
France is “reinventing partnerships in a dynamic Africa”,
Ianni said. “We are turning a page in the military history of our two
countries, … a very special relationship and one essential for the countries of
the region.”
In February, France handed back its sole remaining base in
Ivory Coast, ending decades of French presence there.
The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in
Chad, its last military foothold in the Sahel region.
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