(SenePlus) – According to information reported by RFI, the withdrawal of French military forces from Senegal, announced at the end of December for 2025, promises to be a gradual process whose precise modalities have yet to be defined.
The French military presence in Dakar currently consists of four separate installations, housing around 200 military personnel, according to French international radio. A situation which should see significant developments in the coming months, although the final timetable has not yet been decided, as highlighted by several government sources cited by RFI.
Two of the French rights of way located near the port of Dakar have already been vacant for several months and ready to be transferred to the Senegalese authorities. Notable fact reported by the information site: “Dakar would have requested additional time before recovering the keys.”
The two other French military installations still active have distinct characteristics. The Rufisque base, on the outskirts of the capital, includes housing equipped with secure communications antennas. The Ouakam base, located in an urban area, constitutes a nerve center where “a little more than 200 French soldiers provide training with the Senegalese army and officers from the region”, specifies RFI.
-A French proposal aimed at transforming the Ouakam base into a Franco-Senegalese installation in the summer of 2024 had been put forward, allowing the maintenance of a reduced French contingent. However, as a French military source points out, “no political discussions with the new authorities have yet taken place on the subject.”
This situation comes in a context of diplomatic disagreement, with Senegal having strongly contested recent statements by President Emmanuel Macron according to which these withdrawals would result from negotiations with the African countries concerned.
Senegal
