France Completes Military Withdrawal From Senegal, Ends 65-Year Presence in West Africa

France will on Thursday officially return its last military bases in Senegal, drawing the curtain on more than six decades of military presence in the West African country. With this move, the French army will no longer maintain any permanent military camps in West and Central Africa.

The handover ceremony, taking place in Dakar, will see the return of Camp Geille, France’s largest base in Senegal, as well as its airfield at the capital’s international airport. Senegal’s Chief of General Staff, General Mbaye Cisse, and General Pascal Ianni, who commands French troops in Africa, are expected to attend.

Around 350 French soldiers, who were deployed primarily for joint operations with the Senegalese military, will leave the country following a three-month withdrawal process that began in March.

After his landslide victory in the 2024 presidential election, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded the full withdrawal of French troops by the end of 2025. However, unlike leaders of other former French colonies such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, President Faye has maintained that Senegal will continue to engage with France as a partner.

“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Faye said at the end of 2024. At the same time, he added, “France remains an important partner for Senegal.”

Senegal gained independence from France in 1960 and has been one of its closest allies in Africa ever since. President Faye’s predecessor, Macky Sall, upheld that tradition throughout his tenure. But Faye, who ran on a promise of a clean break from the Sall era, has pledged to put Senegal’s sovereignty and self-sufficiency first, treating all foreign powers equally.

He has also called on France to apologise for colonial-era atrocities, including the massacre of dozens of African soldiers who fought for France in World War II but were killed on December 1, 1944.

France’s withdrawal from Senegal is part of a wider retreat across Africa, as its military presence is increasingly being rejected by governments and citizens in former colonies. In recent months, France has handed back its sole remaining base in Ivory Coast and turned over the Kossei base in Chad—once its last stronghold in the Sahel.

Military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger between 2020 and 2023 have brought in leaders who severed military ties with France and instead aligned with Russia for support against jihadist insurgencies. The Central African Republic has also demanded a French withdrawal and welcomed Russian mercenaries. In Gabon, France has restructured its base into a shared facility with the host government.

After Thursday’s handover in Senegal, the only country in Africa still hosting a permanent French military base will be Djibouti. France now plans to make the Djibouti facility, which houses around 1,500 troops, its main military headquarters for Africa.