At the announcement stage since November 28, 2024, the date is now set for the end of the French military presence in Senegal. The President of the Republic Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who had already announced the color in a series of interviews given to French media on the eve of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Thiaroye 1944 massacre, finally showed himself to be very clear by declaring: “the end of all military presences of foreign countries in Senegal, from 2025”.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accommodate the presence of foreign military bases,” he argued on November 28, emphasizing that the timetable has not yet been established and that the first will be granted to the French authorities.
Things apparently moved at lightning speed after this first declaration since a month later, on December 31, 2024, during his traditional address to the Nation, the Head of State set a date (2025) for the departure of all foreign troops (French and others) in Senegal.
Opting for a new form of agreements more respectful of sovereignist principles, President Faye “instructed the Minister of the Armed Forces to propose a new doctrine of cooperation in matters of defense and security, implying, among other consequences, the end of all military presences of foreign countries in Senegal, from 2025”.
Concern among EFS
A situation that the former colonial power had certainly considered but not prepared for, even if President Emmanuel Macron maintained the opposite on January 6 during a meeting with French diplomats. Indeed, since 2023, Paris had planned to reduce the size of the French Elements in Senegal (EFS) by increasing their number from 500 in 2023 to 250 in the summer of 2024, but withdrawal was not in the options.
Since the announcement on December 31, the soldiers established in Dakar have felt this land of Téranga slipping away from under their feet. At the Frédéric Geille headquarters located on the road to Ouakam, the specter of an imminent departure lurks. An unusual calm reigns at the entrance to the fortress.
According to a French diplomatic source who spoke to Seneweb, “concern” is growing among the 250 French soldiers housed in this base in Ouakam. Many of them, particularly the permanent ones (they often come with family and have a long-term stay of 2 or 3 years), have forged “very strong links” with the country of Téranga and fear – heartbroken – this withdrawal imminent. “Many of them will leave in the summer of 2025,” our interlocutor tells us.
The dismay of the 160 Senegalese civilian employees
-They are not the only ones on whom this political decision with a strong social impact fell like a hammer blow. Senegalese civilian employees also receive it with bitterness. Indeed, according to our French source, the EFS currently employs 160 Senegalese civilian contract workers for tasks ranging from “administration” to “maintenance”.
A significantly larger number in 2011-2012 during the first break between the EFS and the State of Senegal under the presidency of Abdoulaye Wade. At the time the EFS had two large districts in Dakar (the 23rd BIMA in Bel Air and Geille in Ouakam) with more than 1,200 elements and employed at least “3,000 Senegalese civilians”, including 400 under contract, paid directly by the French army.
However, underlines our source, during a meeting with French officers during the Christmas holidays, “a dismissal plan” was discussed between the two parties but negotiations are not yet open given that elements of framework which must necessarily be in line with the withdrawal schedule that the State of Senegal has not yet submitted to the EFS.
However, Senegalese civilian employees recognize that the EFS are “a very good employer”, they are much better paid than elsewhere. The average salary at the EFS is “very much higher” than what is practiced elsewhere. They have medical and social coverage.
Jean-Mermoz High School in Ouakam: around forty students affected
Senegalese civilian employees will certainly not be the only ones to suffer the socio-economic repercussions of the withdrawal of French soldiers. In Ouakam where the latter have become full-fledged ”citizens”, their departure is awaited with a pang in the heart, particularly in certain businesses. This is the case in this large retail brand “U”. Questioned about this decision which is causing debate, the head of Magasin U de Ouakam, Salif Sy confides: “It is true that the EFS have a supermarket in the Geille district, but it often happens that certain soldiers or their families come here to pick up products that they don’t find there. And from this point of view, their departure will obviously mean fewer customers for us.”
At the Lycée Jean-Mermoz in Dakar, on the other hand, the withdrawal of French troops will have a less considerable impact, according to the principal Daniel Djimadoum who received Seneweb in his office. “For me,” he confides, “the impact for the school of a reduction in numbers or the disappearance of the French military base has already occurred if it were to occur.” Because, continues the principal, “the numbers who are in the Geille district today are much less families than young couples or individuals. I don’t have many students from the Geille camp anymore. Today, I have around forty children who come from the Geille camp. In previous years I had more than a hundred when there was a full complement at Camp Geille. Which means that out of a total number of 2,500 students in the establishment, around forty students is not much.”
A French educational establishment, the Lycée Mermoz “does not live and has never lived thanks to the military base”. “We have a workforce that is extremely diverse. If initially the existence of French high schools abroad was primarily intended to welcome French children in different territories and offer them continued education, fortunately we do not stop at French children. This year, for example, we have 60% of our workforce who are French children, 24% who are Senegalese and 15% who are third nationalities, which represents 69 nationalities. We are fortunate to be attractive to the point of having a waiting list to register at the establishment,” rejoices Mr. Djimadoum.
