Some 1,000 soldiers were deployed to the 43rd BIMA, notably in the fight against jihadists who regularly strike the Sahel and the north of certain countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
Published on 01/01/2025 09:22
Updated on 01/01/2025 12:12
Reading time: 1min
The French military base in Abidjan will be handed over to Ivory Coast in January, announced Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara on Tuesday, December 31, in accordance with the policy of reorganizing the French military system in Africa. “We can be proud of our army whose modernization is now effective. It is within this framework that we decided on the concerted and organized withdrawal of French forces in Côte d'Ivoire”he declared in his end-of-year speech. He specified that the camp would be named after General Ouattara Thomas d'Aquin, the first chief of staff of the Ivorian army.
France has decided to reconfigure its military presence in Africa, after being driven out of three Sahelian countries governed by juntas hostile to Paris: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Last month, a few hours apart, Senegal and Chad in turn announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil and formalized a “reorganization”. Ivory Coast remains an important ally of France in West Africa. Some 1,000 soldiers were deployed to the 43rd BIMA, notably in the fight against jihadists who regularly strike the Sahel and the north of certain countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
