Senegal’s new government has taken a hard-line stance against the presence of French troops as part of a larger regional backlash against what many see as the legacy of an oppressive colonial empire.V

After storming to victory in 2024 elections promising radical change, Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded France withdraw troops from the country by 2025. Unlike the leaders of other former colonies such as junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, however, Faye has insisted that Senegal will keep working with Paris.

France has formally handed back its last two military bases in Senegal, leaving Paris with no permanent army camps in either west or central Africa.