France will hand over the last base of the French Forces in Senegal (EFS) to Senegal on 18 July, its ambassador to Dakar and Banjul announced Monday during the National Day reception at the French Residence.
“In accordance with the guidelines established by President Macron in 2022, France will return to Senegal the military bases of the French Forces in Senegal in four days,” Ambassador Christine Fages told guests, including the Senegalese President’s Chief of Staff, Mary Teuw Niane.
This return will mark a major step in the reconfiguration of military relations between Dakar and Paris.
When referring to the final site to be handed over, the ambassador referred to the Ouakam base, without naming it explicitly.
She noted that this reconfiguration paves the way for a partnership “based on mutual respect and complementarity, ensuring the preservation of the interests of both
countries.”
The EFS phase-out process has already led to the handover to Senegal on 1 July of the Rufisque Joint Broadcasting Station.
In use since 1960, this strategic facility provided military communications on the South Atlantic coast.
It was returned in accordance with the commitments made at the joint Franco-Senegalese commission on 16 May as part of a 2012 military cooperation treaty.
The handover of Rufisque came the day after a meeting in Spain between Presidents Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Emmanuel Macron, on the sidelines of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development.
The two heads of state reaffirmed their commitment to a partnership “based on the interests of our peoples and our sovereignty.”
Since March, several other sites have been returned, including the Marechal and Saint-Exupery sites, located near Hann Park, and the Contre-Amiral Protet district at the port of Dakar.
According to the agreed schedule, all sites occupied by the EFS must be returned by the
end of July.
According to the ambassador, the new military partnership will be based on the training and interoperability of the French and Senegalese armies.
She described the bilateral relationship as “frank, balanced, and assertive,” emphasising the need to “review our entire cooperation to identify what we want to continue, deepen, transform, or discontinue.”
An intergovernmental seminar is planned in Dakar before the end of the year to clarify the outlines of this renewed partnership, which is part of the strategy to reconfigure the French military presence in Africa, launched by President Macron in 2022.
