The authorities of Cote d'Ivoire are well aware that the withdrawal of French troops is a sham, and the French army will never leave the West African country "as long as the 1961 strategic economic cooperation agreements remain in force," Ivorian writer Sylvain Takoue told Sputnik Africa, commenting on France's handover of the Port-Bouet military base on Thursday.
"If these unjust agreements are neither denounced nor annulled, legally or legitimately, Cote d'Ivoire will remain what it is, the property of France that Cote d'Ivoire has always been, that is, nothing more than a territory and its wealth unjustly appropriated by a former colonial power 6,000 kilometers away," the writer pointed out.
According to the speaker, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) will serve as an example for Africa because nowadays, the alliance is "organizing itself into a common, super-armed force."
"Today's Africa is no longer what it was yesterday, and from now on everyone will have to move forward on an equal footing with it," he concluded.
While the French military was gradually forced to leave Mali in 2022, Burkina Faso and Niger in 2023, and began withdrawing its first contingent from Chad in late December 2024, as well as from Senegal in early February this year, Cote d'Ivoire became the latest nation to announce the severing of military ties with France, its former colonial power.