France is due to hand over its only military base in Côte d'Ivoire on Thursday in an official ceremony to be attended by French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
The Port-Bouet military camp, officially the 43rd BIMA marine infantry battalion's camp located near the former capital of Abidjan, will be renamed after the Ivorian army's first chief of staff, Thomas d'Aquin Ouattara.
The West African country will still continue cooperating with France on the military level, its defense minister said Tuesday.
“We agreed upon a new partnership (with France),” Ivorian Defense Minister Tene Birahima Ouattara told French broadcaster RFI.
'Cooperation continues'
“The military cooperation continues with France. There is no rupture in reality,” the minister added.
He stressed that the move was part of France’s desire to “restructure its presence in Africa.”
France has now been kicked out of more than 70% of African countries where it had a troop presence since ending its colonial rule.
Côte d'Ivoire, a former French colony, announced last month that French troops will leave the country after a decades long military presence.
Waning influence
France's military presence in Africa has been steadily declining in recent years as several nations, including Chad, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, pushed out its forces.
French troops currently remain in Djibouti and Gabon, two countries that have not signaled changes to agreements with Paris on military presence.
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