Africa on ‘France Out’ campaign, ally Ivory Coast latest to join the bandwagon
FirstpostIn recent months, six African countries have asked France to withdraw their troops, significantly curtailing France’s influence in the region that it had traditionally had a sway in Ivory Coast has become the latest African country to join the ‘France Out’ campaign. Despite years of counter-insurgency activities, at least six countries have asked France to withdraw soldiers: Ivory Coast, Chad, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, told AP that “Chad’s decision marks the final nail in the coffin of France’s post-colonial military dominance in the entire Sahel region”. Durmaz further said that decisions by Senegal and Chad “are part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with France, in which Paris political and military influence continues to diminish”.