Frexit: Why Ivory Coast is joining African campaign to expel French troops

French military troops who have been in Ivory Coast for decades will soon be leaving, Ivorian officials have said, signalling more diplomatic setbacks for France amid local resentment that has caused one-time allies in West and Central Africa to sever ties with Paris. President Alassane Ouattara’s announcement on Tuesday puts Ivory Coast on a growing list of African countries cutting military ties with the once greatly influential former colonial power, as some former French allies also turn to Russian mercenaries for help fighting a swarm of armed groups in the region. In his 2024 end-of-year address to the country on December 31, President Ouattara said the Ivorian government had decided to expel French troops because the Ivorian army is “now effective”. Senegal: In November 2024, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said that France “should” shut down its military bases from 2025 because French military presence was not in line with Senegal’s sovereignty.