Nigeria, Jan. 12 -- To usher Ivorians into the new year, President Alassane Ouattara announced that French troops in Cote d'Ivoire will hand over the 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIMA), a French army base located in Port-Bouet, Abidjan, to the Ivorian military starting in January 2025.

"We can be proud of our army, whose modernisation is now effective. It is within this context that we have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces," Mr Ouattara said in his speech.

With that speech, Cote d'Ivoire, to the surprise of some, became the sixth country in Africa to ask France to withdraw its troops from the country. It was surprising as Mr Ouattara was viewed by many as a darling of France.

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