Senegal distances itself from colonial past, following trend sweeping across West and Central Africa since 2022.
France and Senegal are setting terms for a withdrawal of all French soldiers stationed in the West African country by the end of this year.
The two countries said in a statement on Wednesday that they are establishing a joint commission that would oversee the “departure of French elements” from the country and “a restitution of [military] bases” by year’s end.
The foreign ministries of both countries said they intend to work on “a new defence and security partnership” that would take into account “strategic priorities of all parties”.
In November, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced that French army bases were “incompatible” with the country’s sovereignty and its 350 soldiers should leave.
The move came just before Senegal marked the 80th anniversary of mass killings of West African soldiers by colonial forces in 1944.
The soldiers of the Tirailleurs Senegalais unit, who fought in France’s war against Nazi Germany, had been protesting delays in salaries and poor living conditions when colonial soldiers fired on them.
French President Emmanuel Macron admitted in a letter to Faye last year that France had committed a “massacre”.
Senegal’s rejection of its colonial past continues a trend across West and Central Africa, where nations are downgrading ties with France.
At the end of January, France completed its troop withdrawal from Chad while Ivory Coast had earlier announced the withdrawal of French forces.
The tone was very different from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, whose military governments collectively ejected about 4,300 French soldiers from their countries in 2022. In all three countries, France had refused to back the coups that brought them to power.
