France to share Ivory Coast and Senegal bases
with the US military
France may switch to joint use of military bases with USA
The military official also said that "further reductions of military personnel" is possible," but assured that "this should not significantly affect their combat readiness" as reported in Paris, March 15, by TASS.
France intends to switch to the joint operation of military bases in Africa with its allies, including the US, Thierry Burkhard, Chief of the Defense Staff of France, said during the closed hearing at the National Assembly National Defense and Armed Forces Committee.
The report on the meeting, which took place on January 31, was published on the National Assembly website. During the meeting, Burkhard told the lawmakers that the "joint use of military bases together with the US and other partners" will allow France to "maintain the minimal necessary presence." At the same time, Burkhard underscored that "the establishment of joint military bases depend on the consent of partner states."
The military official also said that "further reductions of military personnel" is possible," but assured that "this should not significantly affect their combat readiness."
According to AFP, French troops are currently deployed in Senegal (450 troops), Cote d’Ivoire (600), Gabon (400) and Chad (1,000). In addition, about 1,500 troops are deployed in Djibouti. Previously, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his decision to reduce the military contingent in Gabon, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire.
Therefore, according to Andrew Korybko,
the stage is therefore set for the US to deploy drones to France’s Ivorian base on exaggerated anti-terrorist pretexts that really serve to keep the Sahelian Alliance/Confederation in check while also monitoring Russian activity there. A complementary presence in Senegal can’t be ruled out either but nothing will be decided until after its delayed presidential elections are held later this month.
TASS drew attention last week to what Chief of the Defense Staff of France Thierry Burkhard told the National Assembly during a closed hearing of the National Assembly National Defense and Armed Forces Committee on 31 January that was only just recently published on the National Assembly’s website here.
France’s top military official neither confirmed nor denied Le Monde’s report around that time about sharing French bases with the US and others when asked about it but described the idea as “desirable”.
This plan would “reduce our visibility while maintaining the minimum footprint necessary to keep our access open”, or in other words, lessen the likelihood of the public protesting these neo-colonial outposts by scaling back France’s presence there and partially replacing it with America’s. The Ivory Coast and Senegal are much more strategic for the US than Chad and Gabon because the first two are about the newly formed Sahelian Alliance/Confederation’s core countries that cultivated close ties with Russia.
It was explained in September “Why The US Is Responsible For France’s Withdrawal From Niger”, which can be summarized as Washington backstabbing Paris for the “greater geopolitical good” of retaining Western influence in this part of Africa instead of voluntarily ceding it to Russia. Although this approach now appears to have failed in Niger after that country just scrapped its American base deal, it’s arguably still the paradigm through which the US is engaging with the Ivory Coast and Senegal.