Chad-France Relations at a Low Point
France continues to lose ground in Africa. This time, Chad turns in parallel with Sénégal.
The visit of the Chadian president to France in September 2024 and his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron appear to have calmed relations between the two countries,[1] despite the opening of an investigation in France into the sources of financing for the numerous items of clothing, real estate, and other items that the Deby family has acquired during Father Idriss Déby Itno’s time in France.[2]
A delegation led by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot arrived in N’djamena on November 28 to elaborate on bilateral issues. The head of the delegation learned from the media about Chad’s decision to end the military agreement. The French foreign minister traveled to the Chadian capital to discuss bilateral issues and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Alongside his Chadian counterpart, Abdoulaye Koulamallah, he visited the Sudanese refugee camps in Adré, where he announced additional aid from France of around 7 million euros to aid humanitarian organizations.[3]
At the end of last October, Boko Haram jihadists attacked a Chadian army forward base (Bisland of Barkaram) in the Lake Chad region, killing over 60 Chadian soldiers. President Mahamat Idriss Deby was upset and discouraged about the French army’s lack of cooperation.[4]
As a retaliation act, the Chadian president ordered the launch of the military operation ‘Haskanite’ to pursue and destroy the attackers.[5] The Boko Haram attack comes just weeks after the end of the Multi-National Task Force (MNJTF) Operation ‘Lake Sanity’ in the region, which aimed to clear the Lake Chad region of jihadist rebels who continue to scour the lake region they call their own, attacking and looting farmers and fishermen in the area.[6]
Despite explicit requests from the Chadian government, France has not provided any intelligence it possesses on the jihadist movement and has refused to provide air support. Against this background, the administration withdrew from the defense agreement with France.[7] It appears that local public opinion and Russian pressure served as catalysts for the decision, as one of the speakers noted: “What good are the thousand French soldiers if they don’t support us when we need them?” From the Chadian government’s perspective, Chad is an independent country free to establish relations with its chosen countries. For them, France is an essential partner, but, in their view, France must consider that Chad has grown, matured, and is a sovereign country, and very jealous of its sovereignty.
The Chadian leader announced that he no longer wanted this agreement and called for “going beyond the traditional cooperation between France and Chad where the security aspect dominates,” he added that “the time has come for Chad to claim its full sovereignty and redefine its strategic partnerships according to national priorities.” The Chadian president asked France to “adopt a diversity of bilateral cooperation aimed at integrating areas such as the economy, education, scientific research, technology, and development in many vital sectors for Chad such as livestock and agriculture.”
The press release issued by the Chadian government emphasizes that this rupture of military cooperation agreements is not a rupture of diplomatic relations and that N’Djamena will respect the conditions provided for the termination of these agreements. Chad, therefore, leaves the door open to a ‘dialogue’ to explore new forms of partnership with France. This is a historical turning point in a long history of co-dependence marked by a century of French military presence in Chad: the country has experienced the most significant number of French military operations on its territory.
It is also a new blow to France’s international diplomacy on the African continent, which has caused the expulsion of French forces in recent years from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal – the Sahel countries and from Central African Republic.[8] The choice made by Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby is also highly political, who has gained points in local public opinion, which is not positive about the continuation of the French military presence in the country. The decision of the Chadian President coincides with a similar step taken in Senegal, in which the elected president announced the end of the French military presence in his country. [9] On November 28, Senegalese President Basirou Diomaye Faye announced that there would be no more French soldiers in Senegal. The questions remain open about the timetable and form of future military cooperation between the two countries.
In the ruling party PASTEF (African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity), the departure of the French army is considered part of the platform of the party that won the presidential elections only on March 27, 2024. President Faye’s statement only confirmed the principle of exercising full sovereignty without the presence of a foreign military force. For now, the French have planned to reduce their presence in Senegal from 300 to 100 soldiers and turn the Dakar camp into a Franco-Senegalese base.
France’s political status in Africa has been completely undermined, and serious questions have been raised at home on the political front. China, Russia, and Turkey are taking advantage of the situation to intensify pro-French sentiment at the political level and among the local populations. The Russian embrace – In recent months, N’Djamena has redoubled its efforts to get closer to Russia. President Mahamat Idriss Déby visited Moscow in January 2024. With this visit, he became the first Chadian president to visit there since François Tombalbaye in 1960. The visit resulted in signing important agreements in several vital areas, such as energy and security; the president declared that Russia is a ‘sister’ country to Chad. Shortly after his election as Chadian president last May, Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first to congratulate Déby. In June, Vladimir Putin sent a delegation to N’Djamena by his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, for diplomatic talks.
Removing the French military force from Chad and terminating the defense agreement will negatively affect France, which theoretically will no longer have a military presence in the Sahel zone. The collapse of the military agreements may strengthen the ‘Alliance of the Sahel States’ (AES), consisting of Niger, Burkina, and Mali. It is unclear whether Chad intends to get closer and join these countries, with which its soldiers held joint training days last May. [10]
A few weeks ago, Chad also announced its intention to withdraw from the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, a force based in the Chadian capital.[11] President Deby’s threat to withdraw from the MNJTF comes as representatives from Britain arrive in Nigeria to discuss a strategic partnership on economic and security issues. According to him, the MNJTF is ineffective in its mission to eliminate the jihadist terrorist groups fighting for control and territory in the region. [12]
This is another nail in the coffin of the war against the spread of radical Islamic organizations in the Sahel countries and supported by the West, mainly France and the United States. The radical forces are receiving much-needed support and breathing space on their way to continuing their spread toward the Gulf of Guinea countries.
[1] Idriss Déby et Emmanuel Macron veulent renforcer la coopération entre le Tchad et la France
[2] Last July, the Agency France-Presse reported that the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) had opened an investigation for “embezzlement of public funds and concealment.” The prosecution, which specializes in combating economic and financial crime, suspects the military leader of using some 900,000 euros (about 585 million CFA francs) to purchase 100 shirts, about 50 suits, and safari jackets.
Les costumes du président Déby potrouint coûter cher à la relation franco-tchadienne
[3] Le Tchad rompt ses accords de coopération de défense avec la France
[4] An attack by Boko Haram against a military base has left at least a quarter of dead
[5] Chad president launches operation to fight Boko Haram after attack kills over 40 troops
[6] MNJTF Operation Aims to Restore ‘Sanity’ to Lake Chad Basin
[7] Chad announces it is breaking its defense cooperation agreements with France
France caught off guard as Chad cuts military ties with Paris
Although the terms of the military agreements were not disclosed, it is likely that the French forces stationed at Air Base 172 In N’Djamena and at the Captain Croci base in Abéché in the east of the country and Faya-Largeau in the north – are being called to leave.
Military cooperation: “Chad is not in the logic of replacing one power with another” – Mahamat Deby
https://www.bbc.com/afrique/articles/c207xjj3v3ko
[8] Having intervened in 2013 to help Mali, the French military has no longer been completely neutral in the country since the military junta took power in May 2021. Mali has regularly accused France of neocolonialism. French forces therefore began to prepare their withdrawal before the Malian government ordered them to leave in August 2022, to make way for Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, the military junta’s favorites.
In Burkina Faso, too, the arrival of a new regime has changed the situation. Since the coup in October 2022, the head of the military junta, Captain Ibrahim Traore, has criticized France’s treatment of his country, which he considers paternalistic.
Like his counterpart in Mali, Ibrahim Traore quickly called for a rapprochement between his country and Russia, to the detriment of France. Relations between France and Burkina Faso then gradually deteriorated until the announcement at the end of January 2023 of the expulsion of French soldiers within just one month.
[9] Sénégal: the announced end of the French military presence soulève des interrogations
Le Tchad a grandi et rompt ses accords de défense avec la France
[10] Exercice militaire « d’envergure » des armées du Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Tchad et du Togo
[11] Chad threatens to withdraw from multinational security force
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/chad-threatens-withdraw-multinational-security-force-2024-11-04
Chad Suggests it May Withdraw from Regional Security Force
[12] Chad threatens to withdraw from the UN Multinational Task Force
https://www.voaafrica.com/a/chad-threatens-to-withdraw-from-un-multinational-task-force/7853231.html
