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Ivory Coast has changed its military cooperation with former colonial power, France. President Alassane Ouattara announced in his New Year’s message that 43rd BIMA marine infantry battalion, at Port-Bouet in Abidjan, where French troops are stationed, would be handed over to the Ivorian armed forces in January. With the exit of French troops from Ivory Coast, France now retains forces in only Djibouti and Gabon.
For Seidik Abba, analyst and president of the Center for Studies and Reflections on the Sahel, a policy think tank, two key factors — internal and external — explain the decision:
“There are internal political considerations, because, as we know, Ivory Coast is approaching a presidential election in 2025 surrounded by many uncertainties,” Abba told DW.
Ouattara, who has been in power since 2010, also used his year-end speech to say that the presidential election slated for October 2025, would be “peaceful” as well as “transparent and democratic.” However, the 83-year-old has not yet said whether he will seek a fourth term.
Regional considerations
But for Seidik, Ouattara’s announcement was also a nod to the anti-French sentiments that have swept through West Africa over the past decade.
“In the sub-regional context, a sovereign wind is currently blowing, so Ivorian authorities want to affirm their adherence to this sovereigntist demand by making this announcement,” Seidik told DW.
Others though took note of Ouattara’s solemnity in the announcement, where he said:
“We can be proud of our army, whose modernization is now effective. It is in this context that we have decided on the concerted and organized withdrawal of French forces from Ivory Coast.”
This was seen as indicative that the decision was taken by mutual agreement between France and Ivory Coast. Seidik Abba notes that, given France’s recent experiences in Senegal and Chad, Paris sought to avoid any surprises:
“This angle makes sense in that it allows both France and Ivory Coast to keep up appearances, while showing Ivory Coast remains part of this sovereigntist dynamic observed in the region,” Abba told DW.
French military slowly pushed out of West Africa
France has been preparing for years what it called a “reorganization” of military relations after the forced departure of its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where governments hostile to the ex-colonial ruler have come to power.
In December 2024, within hours of each other, Senegal and Chad announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil. On December 26, France returned the first military base to Chad — the last Sahel nation to host French troops.
These developments took France by surprise, according to Alex Vines, director of the Africa Program at Chatham House:
“France had planned a gradual withdrawal and hoped to maintain some sort of smaller presence,” he told DW.
To avoid a similar surprise in Ivory Coast, Paris reached a deal with Abidjan, said political analyst Seidik Abba. But for South African sociologist and political analyst Tessa Dooms, the Ivory Coast’s struggle to balance international partnerships and governance systems while maintaining security has been emblematic of the Sahel regions over the past decade.
“The Sahel regimes prove that systems people assumed as fundamental and uncontestable, like democracy, are contestable, especially as new African leaders are emerging. Actually, it is a healthy thing for there to be internal debate around what is the right fit for Africa,” she told DW.
“The problem comes in when there’s a divide and rule strategy in terms of external interests from the continent, and that has been Africa’s chronic problem [to manage]. Even if the Sahel region is shaking off the French, it can’t just shake off the French — it means shaking the hands of others.”
Ivory Coast at a crossroads
Other Sahel nations, like Mali and Burkina Faso, have sought military assistance from Russia to fight jihadist insurgencies, with varying degrees of success.
Analyst Seidik Abba said Ivory Coast does not fall into this category. France’s withdrawal of troops is not a denunciation of defense agreements, as has been the case in Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad.
“Military cooperation between France and Ivory Coast will continue. There will always be French military personnel in the country, particularly for exchanges and training. The handover does not put an end to this collaboration, as it is not a breach of the agreement,” he told DW.
Ivory Coast remains a strategic ally of France in West Africa. Until now, some 1,000 French soldiers have been deployed with the 43rd BIMA, playing a crucial role in the fight against jihadists operating in the Sahel and northern Gulf of Guinea countries.
But aside from military partnerships, the landscape regarding economic and trade relations is rapidly changing in the Sahel. Geopolitical organizations like BRICS (the intergovernmental institution that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) have grown in stature and membership, and China continues to provide an alternative trade and business partner away from Western, ex-colonialist associates.
But for analyst Tessa Dooms there is no centralized directive, leaving individual nations to feel their way forward.
“There have been number of bilateral agreements. But when it comes to how to approach BRICS, China or the United States, over the last five years or so we have seen a decline in the role of the African Union, almost entirely. It’s actually quite worrying,” Dooms said.
Edited by: Keith Walker