Chad – France military cooperation: Why N’Djamena broke its agreements with Paris and what that means

During a visit by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs to Chad, N’Djamena announced Thursday evening that it was breaking its nearly 50-year-old military agreements with France. For the Chadian authorities, it is a desire for sovereignty, but new powers are in ambush.

It was obviously at the Chadian presidential palace in N’Djamena that the rupture was consummated. Thursday afternoon, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, visiting Chad, was received by President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.

On the agenda of the discussions, the question of Sudanese refugees in the country, but above all, military cooperation between the two countries. The two countries are linked by a decades-old military cooperation agreement, but it was revised in 2019.

The Chadian leader informed his host that he no longer wanted this agreement, inviting “to transcend the traditional cooperation between France and Chad in which the security aspect predominates”, informs the Chadian presidency on its website.

N’Djamena made this decision after “an in-depth analysis”, according to the Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abderahmane Koullamala, in a press release.

He explains that “it is time for Chad to assert its full sovereignty, and redefine its strategic partnerships according to national priorities”.

However, the press release underlines that this rupture of military cooperation agreements is not a rupture of diplomatic relations and that N’Djamena will respect the modalities provided for the termination of these agreements.

In recent months, the affair has seriously impacted relations between N’Djamena and Paris. Last July, Agence France Presse announced that the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) had opened an investigation for “embezzlement of public funds and concealment”.

In question, this prosecution specialized in the fight against economic and financial delinquency, suspects the military leader of having used some 900 thousand euros (approximately 585 million CFA francs) for the purchase of one hundred shirts, around fifty suits , abacosts and safari jackets purchased in France.

Security analyst Seidik Abba believes that this situation has had a lasting impact on the good relations between the two countries.

“This was manifested by the fact that France, having logistics stationed in N’Djamena, did not agree to help Chad during Operation Haskanite”, Haskanite being the last operation that Chad launched last month against Boko Haram in Lake Chad.

But before that, Mr. Abba explains that the quarrel pushed the Chadian president to cancel an official visit planned for last July, and did not want to attend the ceremony of the landing of Provence in August.

During his tête-à-tête with the head of French diplomacy on Thursday in N’Djamena, the Chadian president declared to his host that “Chad intends to fully assume its sovereignty in its relations with France or any other country, in freeing oneself from the shackles of the past.

He also asked France “to embrace a diversification of bilateral cooperation aimed at integrating areas such as the economy, education, scientific research, technology and development in many vital sectors for Chad such as livestock and agriculture.

Which, for Mr. Deby, “could promote much more than mutual enrichment to better reflect the contemporary needs of Chad, deepening its vision for balanced interdependence”.

Chad had until now remained with Senegal, the only territory in the Sahel hosting a French military base, after the departures, in a context of diplomatic crisis, of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso between August 2022 and December 2023.

Although the terms of the broken military agreements have not been revealed, it is likely that the French contingents stationed at air base 172 in N’Djamena and at the Captain Croci base in Abéché, in the east of the country and in Faya -Largeau, in the north, are called to leave.

This will then turn a page in a history of several decades, during which French contingents provided logistical support and intelligence support to the Chadian armed forces.

French troops have intervened militarily on several occasions in the country, in particular to counter the incursions of armed rebel columns on Chadian territory in 2006 and in 2008, then in 2019.

Although the latest rebel offensive from the country’s northern border (towards Libya) took away former President Idriss Deby Itno, we remember the declaration of French President Emmanuel Macron at his funeral, affirming that “the France will never allow the stability and integrity of Chad to be called into question.”

In recent months, N’Djamena has multiplied acts of rapprochement with Moscow. President Mahamat Idriss Deby, still leading the transition, visited Moscow in January 2024.

With this visit, he became the first Chadian president to visit there since the visit of François Tombalbaye in 1960. The visit resulted in the signing of important agreements in several vital areas, such as energy and security.

Just after his election as head of Chad last May, Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to congratulate Mr. Deby.

Then in June, Vladimir Putin sent a delegation led by his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, for a diplomatic stay in Ndjamena.

On the other hand, we do not know if the United States had a comeback last September, after a few months of falling out with N’Djamena.

Washington was forced, in April 2024, to withdraw its troops who were operating with drones to support Chadian military operations.

But American authorities announced that the two parties had reached a new agreement last September and agreed to a redeployment of American forces on Chadian territory, even if American authorities explain that they will be in small numbers.

But the authorities in N’Djamena denied this information via a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and since then, it is difficult to know whether positions have evolved on the issue.

The next few days will undoubtedly be decisive for the course of events, after this denunciation of the cooperation agreements with France.

But Seidik Abba believes that there will be no consequences on the Chadian side, “given that Chad has demonstrated its power in the region, positioning itself as a seasoned army, capable of carrying out its mission well.”

The consequences, according to him, “will be more on the side of France, which in principle will no longer have a presence in the Sahel,” explains the analyst of security issues.

But he believes that this breakdown of military agreements reinforces the Sahel States (AES, made up of Niger, Burkina and Mali) in their position which pushed them to break off their relations with France.

It is not clear whether N’Djamena intends to move closer to these states, with which its troops had days of joint training last May.

But this announcement comes as Chad also announced, a few weeks ago, its intention to withdraw from the Multinational Joint Force, a joint force fighting Boko Haram, the base of which is located in the Chadian capital.

The severance of military cooperation ties between France and Chad comes at a time when Nigerian President Bola Tinubu is visiting France.

According to the French press, the discussions will focus more on economic cooperation, even if Nigeria has emerged in recent years as one of France’s partners in the fight against insecurity in the region.

Can the two parties go so far as to decide on the installation of a French military base in Nigeria? Experts are cautious.

For former Nigerian army captain Umar Aliyu, now an expert in security resources, we must wait for the two men to take stock of their exchanges.

Even if he remains very doubtful about the possibility of an extension of cooperation between the two countries.

“We are English speakers, I doubt that the president of my country would accept such an offer if it is made, but we must wait until the end of the visit to be clearer,” says the analyst.