'Profound Humility': France to 'Reorganize' Military Presence in Africa After Partial Pullout

Recently, France’s influence in Africa has faced the biggest challenges in decades, amid rising anti-French sentiment in its former colonies. Paris failed to maintain its military presence in two out of five countries in the Sahel region. In February, French troops were withdrawn from Burkina Faso, and last year from Mali.

Paris must demonstrate "profound humility" in Africa, and open a "new era" in its partnership with the continent amid "unprecedented" and "historic" challenges, said French President Emmanuel Macron during a Monday speech dedicated to France's new policy on Africa.

Macron revealed that his government is planning to reorganize the presence of French troops in Africa under a "new security partnership" that would see a minimized number of French military personnel.

"The change will happen in the coming months, with a noticeable reduction in our numbers and the increased presence of our African partners at these bases," he said.

The French president said he believes the Paris should follow "another path" that would focus on "addressing African countries as partners with whom we share interests and balanced, reciprocal, [and] accountable responsibilities."

Macron also claimed that Africa is no longer considered a “backyard”, adding that France's military bases in Africa as they exist now are a "heritage from the past" and must see some change.

"Our model must not be anymore military bases like those we have now," Macron said in his Monday speech at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris. "Tomorrow, our (military) presence will go through bases, schools, academies, which will be jointly managed" by French and African staff.

The French president stressed that "France’s role is not to fix all problems in Africa."

Macron’s remarks come ahead of his scheduled trip on Wednesday to four central African states – Gabon, Angola, the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The visit to Africa comes in the wake of the pullout of French troops from Burkina Faso earlier this month amid rising anti-French sentiment in the West African country, along with other countries in the Sahel region.

France had been maintaining a military presence in five Sahel region countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger – within the framework of Operation Barkhane since 2014. In August 2022, however, local authorities demanded that French troops leave Mali and just several months later, Paris put an end to the Barkhane operation.

France had been maintaining a military presence in five former colonies in the Sahel region, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger, under the pretext of supporting the African nations in their battle against terrorist groups linked to Daesh* and al-Qaeda*.

Five months prior to the withdrawal from Burkinabe territory, which took place in the wake of repeated protests in Ouagadougou demanding the departure of French troops, the French government completed the pullout of its troops from neighboring Mali, in a move that was followed by the wrap-up of the 2014 anti-terrorist mission, Operation Barkhane, in the Sahel region.

At the time, the government of Mali accused Paris of supporting terrorist groups inside the West African country by providing them with intelligence, arms and ammunition instead of fighting them.

On Thursday, during a three-day visit to Ouagadougou, Mali’s Prime Minister Choguel Maiga called on the leadership of neighboring Burkina Faso not to rely on foreign troops to fight terrorists, arguing that "It is the Africans who must defend ourselves."

Maiga added that the current situation is "difficult," since the Burkinabe leadership has "made choices today that are not to everyone’s liking, so they are putting pressure on you, they are sowing doubt, and it is at this moment that I believe like all great peoples, the people of Burkina Faso must stand as one."

* Daesh and al-Qaeda are terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries around the world.