France starts 2025 with fresh controversy, questions over Africa
France starts 2025 with a further drawdown of its military presence in its former African colonies, and fresh tensions ignited this week with controversial remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Chad, Senegal and now Ivory Coast have followed Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in asking France to withdraw its troops from their soil. The reasons vary — from growing anti-French sentiment to calls for greater sovereignty and strengthening ties with other foreign powers. But the impact is the same.
“There is a clear collapse of French policy in Africa. The withdrawal of the French troops and basically the end of the French military presence in Africa is a symbol of that collapse,” said Thierry Vircoulon, Associate Research Fellow at the French Institute of International Relations’ Sub-Saharan Africa Center.
Macron’s government announced plans last year to reduce its military presence on the continent — where it also has troops in Gabon and Djibouti — and make it more responsive to countries’ demands. France has also expanded ties beyond francophone Africa. Its two biggest trading partners, for example, are Nigeria and South Africa.
But analyst Vircoulon predicts France’s long-term influence in Africa will remain limited, at best.
“There’s very little that the French government can do, and it’s playing in favor of Russia and other countries that are not Western,” he said.
He said he believes France’s strategic priorities will shift to potential conflicts in Europe.
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Thierry VIRCOULON
Associate Research Fellow, Coordinator of the Observatory of Central and Southern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa Center, Ifri
