France formally handed over its last military garrison in Senegal on Thursday, ending more than six decades of continuous French troop presence in the West African nation.
In a ceremony at Camp Geille in Dakar’s Ouakam district, Senegal’s armed‑forces chief Gen. Mbaye Cissé and French Africa‑command head Maj. Gen. Pascal Ianni signed transfer papers that complete a staggered withdrawal agreed in May.
Paris had already returned the Marechal and Saint‑Exupéry compounds on March 7, the Contre‑Amiral Protet naval site on May 15 and the Rufisque base on July 1. The pull‑out flows from a 2012 defence‑co‑operation treaty and a May 16 joint‑commission decision confirming the timetable.
France’s African footprint has shrunk sharply in the past decade, with troops ejected from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Côte d’Ivoire. Djibouti is now expected to remain its sole permanent base on the continent, while Paris says future deployments will focus on training missions or targeted support at the request of host governments.