FRANCE STARTS PULLING TROOPS FROM SENEGAL, HANDS OVER TWO MAJOR BASES

Africa World

Sat 08 March 2025:

France formally began its military withdrawal from Senegal on Friday, handing over two key facilities to the West African nation as part of a broader shift in its regional strategy.

“The French side handed over to the Senegalese side the facilities and housing in the Maréchal and Saint-Exupéry districts on Friday, March 7, 2025,” the French Embassy in Senegal confirmed in a statement. “Located near the Hann Park, these districts were ready to be returned since the summer of 2024.”

The move follows Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s push to remove foreign forces from the country, reflecting a wider wave of resistance to France’s presence in West Africa. France’s influence in the region has steadily declined, with its forces also exiting Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad in recent years amid growing local opposition.

A joint commission was set up last month to coordinate the withdrawal, and the French military recently dismissed 162 Senegalese personnel working on bases in Dakar. The French Embassy, however, did not disclose how many troops remain in Senegal.

France has announced plans to sharply reduce its African military footprint, with Djibouti expected to be its only permanent base on the continent. Paris said it may provide defense training or targeted military support based on requests by individual nations.

France’s colonial history in Africa
It kicked off in the 17th century when France started grabbing coastal trading posts—think Senegal in 1659—for slaves, sugar, and ivory. By the 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France went big, colonizing huge chunks of West and North Africa.
They built French West Africa, a federation including modern-day Mali, Niger, and Ivory Coast, and French Equatorial Africa, covering places like Chad and Gabon. Algeria? That was a special case—invaded in 1830, treated like part of France itself, with settlers called pieds-noirs running the show.
Control was brutal: forced labor, cultural suppression (hello, French-only schools), and economic exploitation—rubber, coffee, you name it, shipped back to France. Resistance? Constant. Think Samori Touré fighting in West Africa or the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962), a bloody mess that ended with Algeria breaking free.
Most colonies got independence in 1960, but France didn’t just wave goodbye—neocolonial ties lingered via Francafrique: economic deals, military bases, and propping up friendly dictators. Today, it’s a mixed legacy—French language and infrastructure endure, but so does resentment over past atrocities and ongoing influence. 

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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