France on Friday said it had begun the handover of several military bases in Senegal, as part of the withdrawal of soldiers from the west African nation where it has had a presence since 1960.
The French embassy in Dakar announced that facilities and housing in the Marechal and Saint-Exupery districts of Dakar had been transferred to Senegalese control.
Others “will be returned according to the jointly agreed schedule”, it added, without specifying a timeline.
Read more‘Time to move on’: France faces gradual decline of influence in Africa
France announced on February 12 that it had set up a joint commission with Senegal to organise the arrangements for the withdrawal of French troops and the return of the sites by the end of this year.
The embassy said the commission met for the first time on February 28.
“The commission also launched work to overhaul the bilateral defence and security partnership,” a statement read.
Senegal gained independence from France in 1960 but has remained one of its former colonial ruler’s closest allies in west Africa.
But after its election in 2024, Senegal’s new government has promised to treat France as an equal to other foreign partners.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who swept to power on an agenda of change, announced in November that all French and foreign troops would leave Senegal by the end of 2025.
Local staff working for the French military will lose their jobs on July 1, the troops’ commander wrote in a letter to a local labour leader.
French military bases in Dakar and the surrounding area directly employ 162 staff while between 400 and 500 people work in subcontracted industries.
The French army held a careers forum on Thursday to offer “redeployment opportunities” within local companies for the 162 set to be made redundant.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Leave a Comment