(20 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Abidjan, Ivory Coast – 20 February 2025
1. Various of Ivorian military personnel outside the newly named Camp Thomas d’Aquin Ouattara
2. Various of Ivorian military personnel inside the camp
3. Camp entrance with sign and officials gathering
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Téné Birahima Ouattara, Ivorian Defense Minister:
"Ladies and gentlemen, at the end of the year, the president of the republic indicated during his address the handover of the 43rd BIMA (French Marine Infantry Battalion) to the Ivorian Armed Forces. The base will be named after the late General Thomas d’Aquin. The purpose of this ceremony is to announce that."
5. French military officer hands over keys to the base
6. Various of Ivorian and French soldiers standing during ceremony
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Sebastien Lecornu, French Minister for Armed Forces:
"France is transforming its presence, France is not disappearing. 80 French soldiers, forming the core of an inter-army military detachment, will become, in a way, part of the French military for disciplinary needs and for training purposes."
8. Close of Ivorian flag over the base
9. Various of French soldiers standing during ceremony
STORYLINE:
Ivory Coast officially took control of the last remaining French military base in the country on Thursday as the majority of French forces departed from countries across West Africa.
Some 80 French servicemen will continue to stay in the country to advise and train the Ivorian military, according to Sébastien Lecornu, the French Armed Forces Minister,
"France is transforming its presence, France is not disappearing,” he added.
Ivorian Defense Minister Tene Birahima Ouattara, also present at the handover ceremony, said the base was named after the Ivorian army’s first Chief of Staff, the late General Thomas d’Aquin.
Ivory Coast’s announcement follows that of other leaders across West Africa, where France’s militaries are being asked to leave.
Analysts have described the requests for French troops to leave Africa as part of a broader structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris amid growing local sentiments against France, especially in coup-hit countries.
French troops who have been on the ground for many years have in recent years been kicked out from several West African countries including Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Chad, considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa.
The French government has been making efforts to revive its waning political and military influence on the continent by devising a new military strategy.
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