France’s new Africa plan, launched by French President Emmanuel Macron, calls for more local personnel to administer its facilities while reducing the number of French troops on the continent.
It happens only a few weeks after Moscow offered to provide more military assistance and training to nations in West Africa.
As more international countries compete for influence on the continent, Mr. Macron unveiled the new approach prior to a four-nation African visit.
French military installations in Africa, according to President Macron, are remnants of the past.
Yet, he asserted that his nation shouldn’t be held responsible for the defeat of extremist organizations in the Sahel.
French forces, who had been fighting against militants in the region for more than a decade, pulled out of Mali last year after the country invited in the Wagner group.
Mr Macron described the group as the life insurance of failing regimes.
French troops were also asked to leave Burkina Faso in January amid a growing anti-France sentiment.
Mr Macron’s newly unveiled strategy is meant to redefine France’s relationship with Africa as competition from Russia and China grows.
Source: The Independent Ghana