By ManoReporters Staff Writer
In a surprising move, Cote d’Ivoire has joined a growing list of African nations severing their military pacts with France.
Cote d’Ivoire’s President Alasane Ouattara announced in his New Year message that his government was asking France to withdraw its troops from the country.
“We have decided on the coordinated and organised withdrawal of French forces,” he said in the statement broadcast nationwide to mark the New Year – 2025.
He added that the withdrawal process is expected to take place in January 2025.
The move has been described as a significant milestone in the diminishing influence of France in its former colonies.
There are estimated 600 French soldiers stationed in Cote d’Ivoire, according to a report by the European news platform – Euro News. They were deployed about a decade ago, when French forces intervened in political unrests sparked by the disputed elections that brought Alassane Ouattara to power.
Ouattara has been seen as a Western stooge due to his ties to France and the supports he gets from the French.
This announcement comes after similar moves by Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which fell out with France over their role in Islamist induced insurgencies in the Sahel region. The relationship between France and three Sahelian nations deteriorated after militaries in these countries seized power and questioned the role of foreign forces in the prolongation of the unrests.
But the proposed withdrawal by Cote d’Ivoire is a surprising move given the close ties between the Ouattara regime and the former colonial power. But it also follows similar surprising developments in Senegal and Chad, two of France’s strongest allies of in the region, to ask for its troops to leave.
But the decisions align with the sentiment sweeping across West Africa, where public discontent with France’s policies has grown, fueled by accusations of neo-colonialism and exploitative relationships.
