Ousted from Mali, then from Burkina Faso, France is reviewing its military cooperation with states threatened by jihadism. On Sunday, the ruling junta in Ouagadougou announced the official end of the operations of the French Saber force on its soil, a few weeks after having denounced the defense agreement linking the two countries. By contrast, neighboring Côte d’Ivoire is one of France’s strongest allies in West Africa. The French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, was precisely visiting Abidjan to discuss the contours that the French military presence in Africa could take in the coming years.
According to the minister’s entourage, relations with Ouagadougou are “neutral” and the redeployment of Saber is being done “discreetly”. “It would be dishonest to say that this redeployment in coordination with the Burkinabe authorities is not going well,” the same source continues. No decision has been officially taken for the time being concerning their possible redeployment in other African countries, and part of these forces should first return to France. This withdrawal follows that of the French forces from Mali, completed in August 2022, at the request of the putschist soldiers in power in this country as in Burkina Faso.
Following an interview with the Head of State, Alassane Ouattara, Sébastien Lecornu noted the “remarkable efforts made in the rise of the security apparatus in Côte d’Ivoire”. “The army of Côte d’Ivoire today has nothing to do with that of 10 years ago. This makes Côte d’Ivoire a country of stability, whose role as a regional balancing power is becoming more and more established,” he added.
Sébastien Lecornu, whose second visit in seven months to Côte d’Ivoire, also met his counterpart, the Minister of Defence, Téné Birahima Ouattara. In addition to the security situation in the region, where several countries are confronted with jihadist violence and coups d’etat, then the question of the predation of raw materials and drug trafficking as well as that of the war in Ukraine, the two men exchanged on the question of the “rearticulation” of the French military presence in the region.
Paris has some 950 soldiers in the French Forces in Côte d’Ivoire (FFCI), a number which could be reduced in the years to come, while responding in a more targeted manner to Ivorian needs. “President Emmanuel Macron asked us to reflect on the rearticulation of the French presence in Africa”, explained Sébastien Lecornu, detailing the partnership projects with Côte d’Ivoire: part of the “training” of the Ivorian army and another “more capable” part concerning equipment for the Air and Land Forces. The French Minister of the Armed Forces did not give more details on a possible timetable or on concrete figures.
On the capability side, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces wants to set up a system in which French military equipment manufacturers would have a greater role. “We can count on the Air Force equipment, the land equipment on which we have discussed partnership issues. I asked our defense industry, our general delegation for armaments to go around the table. And perhaps to send in the coming weeks a panel of French entrepreneurs under the leadership of the general delegation for armaments, under the leadership of the public investment bank to make proposals to the State of Côte d’Ivoire to allow for this material agenda,” he pointed out.
