France hands over last military base in Chad, marking end of its presence in Sahel

France’s decades-long military presence in Africa is winding down after the French army has handed over its third and last military base in Chad to the country’s government.

The military ceremony held in the capital N’Djamena on Wednesday (29 January) marked the official end of French military presence in the country. According to sources from the Chadian General Staff of the Armed Forces, the handover of the facility, the Sergeant Adji Kossei base in N’Djamena, to the West African nation signifies the final termination of the French military’s involvement in Chad. After the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, Chad remained the last foothold in France’s broader Sahel military strategy against jihadist insurgencies.

But this all changed in November last year when N’Djamena abruptly terminated military cooperation with its former colonial master. Justifying the move, President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said the cooperation agreements with France had become “completely obsolete” in light of “the political and geo-strategic realities of our time”. France’s fallout with Chad deepened after the West African country accused France of continued interference to undermine its democracy. Senegal is currently negotiating the withdrawal of French forces by the end of this year, while French military presence in the Ivory Coast and Gabon is being downsized.