France's Withdrawal from the Sahel

Since African independence in the 1960s, France remained the dominant outside power across its former colonies. Military bases, trade deals, political backing, and informal influence defined what became known as Françafrique. In the Sahel, France intervened in 2013 with Operation Serval in Mali to stop jihadist advances.

From 2020 onward, anti-French protests grew sharply across the Sahel. Demonstrators accused Paris of neo-colonialism and demanded troop withdrawals. Military juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger increasingly blamed France for failures that were largely their own.

After the coups, new governments demanded the immediate withdrawal of French troops in 2022 and 2023. President Macron eventually accepted the reality on the ground. Barkhane ended officially in December 2022, and French bases in Gao, Timbuktu, and Niamey were evacuated under humiliating conditions.

Russia moved into the gap with Wagner and later the Africa Corps. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger all opened the door to Russian fighters and advisers. The new partners brought political backing and firepower, but they also carried the same pattern of abuses and coercive influence that had already damaged their reputation elsewhere.

The withdrawal did not stabilize the Sahel. Instead, violence spread toward coastal states and the French military presence was reduced to a much smaller footprint in countries such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Chad. Françafrique in the Sahel is effectively over, replaced by a far less predictable mix of local juntas and Russian influence.