The handover follows a declaration by Senegal’s President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, late last year ordering all foreign troops to leave the country
France hands control of two military bases to Senegal as it begins its withdrawal process from the West African country.
France has begun its formal withdrawal procedure from Senegal. On Friday, Paris announced that it had handed back control of two military facilities to the West African country.
The handover follows a declaration by Senegal’s President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, late last year ordering all foreign troops to leave the country. “The French side handed over to the Senegalese side the facilities and housing in the Maréchal and Saint-Exupéry districts on Friday, March 7, 2025,” the French Embassy in Senegal said in a statement Friday.
“Located near the Hann Park, these districts were ready to be returned since the summer of 2024.” Paris set up a joint commission with Dakar last month to organise the withdrawal. The French army recently announced it had dismissed 162 Senegalese who worked on their military bases in the country.
Senegal’s new government has taken a hard-line approach on the presence of French troops as part of a larger regional backlash against many see as the legacy of an oppressive colonial regime.
France has faced opposition from some African leaders over what they labelled as a demeaning and heavy-handed approach to the continent. Paris has suffered multiple setbacks in recent years in its military presence on the continent, particularly in the West. Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso are among the countries who’ve recently expelled French troops.
France says it is planning to sharply reduce its presence at all it bases in Africa – including the 350 troops in Senegal – with an exception to Djibouti. It says it could instead provide defence training or targeted military support, based on the needs of each individual country.
Last year, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye had said that the presence of French military bases on Senegalese territory is “not compatible” with the sovereignty his administration upholds.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country, and sovereignty is not compatible with the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” he said in an interview with the AFP news agency, addressing relations between Senegal and France, particularly regarding the French military presence and bases in the West African country.
“The updating of our military doctrine is not only about military presence, it goes beyond that. It obviously requires that there be no more military bases of any kind in Senegal,” he said.
“Sixty-five years after our independence, the French authorities must also consider a partnership free of military presence, one that is instead rich, fruitful, privileged, and comprehensive, similar to the relationships we have with many other countries,” Faye added.
He said it is a “major step” that French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged, in a letter, the “massacre” committed by French colonial forces in the village of Thiaroye, near the capital Dakar, on December 1, 1944, when they opened fire on Senegalese tirailleurs returning from France.
Faye noted that the letter, confirmed by the Elysee Palace, was sent three days before commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the massacre, an event the new Senegalese administration intends to highlight.
“A renewed partnership… can only be renewed in the truth and in the completeness of the truth,” Faye said, adding that “France remains an important partner for Senegal in terms of the level of investment, the presence of French companies and French citizens residing in Senegal.”
Senegal gained independence from France in 1960. While France has maintained several military bases in Dakar, it began reducing its presence in 2023 and is expected to retain only about 100 military personnel in Senegal, down from the current 350.
