No French military base in Benin: Nadège Chouat invites Tiani to prove his accusations
In an interview with Bip Radio on the occasion of the French national holiday of July 14th, the French Ambassador to Benin, Nadège Chouat, made a point to categorically clarify a persistent controversy: the alleged establishment of a French military base in the north of Benin.
In an interview with Bip Radio on the occasion of the French national holiday of July 14th, the French Ambassador to Benin, Nadège Chouat, made a point to categorically clarify a persistent controversy: the alleged establishment of a French military base in the north of Benin.
She rejects this claim, which she labels as “fake news,” and directly challenges her detractors, notably General Tiani, to produce proof.
The idea of the existence of a French military base in Benin, first propagated by certain Pan-Africanist currents and then relayed by the heads of the Sahel States Alliance (SSA), continues to fuel suspicions and criticisms towards France. For Nadège Chouat, these allegations are a result of disinformation. “There is no French military base in Benin… this is also fake,” she declared.
The diplomat recalls that since February 2023, President Emmanuel Macron has initiated a change of doctrine regarding the French military presence in Africa. This new direction is characterized by the handing back of old military bases to host countries, notably Gabon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Chad.
“We were there at the request of these countries, but our intention now is to disengage”, she explained.
In this context, she affirms that she does not understand why France, in the midst of a withdrawal strategy, would go against the current by erecting a military base on Beninese territory, a country where it has never had one. “I remind you that France has never had a military base in Benin and will not have one,” she insists.
Reacting to a statement by General Abdourahamane Tiani, the President of Niger’s Council for the Protection of the Homeland (CPH), that a French base exists in Benin to destabilize his country, Nadège Chouat throws down a challenge: “I invite General Tiani to come and show me these bases. I would be the first to know where they are.”
This clarification is not new. The former French Ambassador to Benin, Marc Vizy, also denied this information several times. According to Nadège Chouat, this accusation stems from a deliberate strategy aimed at fostering animosity towards France in parts of the African public opinion.
