Senegal president says no more 'foreign military presence from 2025'

Senegal's President Bassirou Dioumaye Faye said that 2025 would see an end to all foreign military presence in the west African country, in a speech on Tuesday to mark the new year.

Faye's statement came a month after he announced that former colonial master France would have to close its military bases in Senegal.

"I have instructed the minister for the armed forces to propose a new doctrine for cooperation in defence and security, involving, among other consequences, the end of all foreign military presences in Senegal from 2025," said Faye, who was elected in March.

This is the first time he has set a date for the closure of foreign military bases.

"All of Senegal's friends will be treated like strategic partners, within the framework of open, diversified and uninhibited cooperation," said Faye.

The president, who took office in April, was elected on a promise to deliver sovereignty and end dependence on foreign countries.

On November 28, he told AFP that the presence of French military bases in Senegal was incompatible with that sovereignty.

"Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country," he said, some 64 years after Senegal's independence from France.

He however maintained that the act did not constitute a break with France, like those seen elsewhere in west Africa in recent years.

"France remains an important partner for Senegal for the investment for Senegal and the presence of French companies and even French citizens who are in Senegal," said Faye.