French forces are preparing to hand over their military base in Abidjan officially to the Ivorian army on February 20, during a ceremony that will be attended by the defense ministers of the two countries.
French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecorno is expected to attend the ceremony in Abidjan, along with his Ivorian counterpart, Tini Perheima Wattara.
On December 31, Ivory Coast, the head of Ivory Coast, announced the restoration of the 43rd Battalion Camp in Port Bouet in Badijan, in a move that comes as part of efforts to restructure the French military presence in Africa.
This withdrawal comes within a series of changes in the region, as the French army was forced to leave Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger after decisions from the ruling military authorities there, and he is preparing to leave Chad after Najamina canceled the military cooperation agreement with Paris last October.
In addition, Senegal negotiates the end of the French military presence by the end of 2025.
Smooth withdrawal
Unlike the previous withdrawal operations that witnessed tensions, the military base is being handed over in the Ivory Coast smoothly and coordinated between the French and Ivorian armies.
The Ivorians have already begun to spread inside the Port Bouet camp since January, where they have been working alongside the remaining French forces.
Despite the withdrawal of the French forces, the Ivory Coast remains a strategic ally of France in West Africa, especially in the efforts to combat the so -called terrorism, as the 43th battalion included about a thousand French soldiers participating in the operations against the jihadist groups that threaten the coast and north of the Gulf of Guinea.
Despite the delivery of the base, a limited French presence in the country will continue, as a small unit of about 80 soldiers will remain in the Port Bouet camp, which was renamed to bear the name Thomas Dakoen Wattara, the first chief of staff of the Ivorian army, to perform training tasks and provide technical support to the Ivorian forces.
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