On Thursday, January 30, amidst the usual bustle of boarding and deplaning at N'Djamena airport, the A400M bearing a roundel in the colors of the French flag almost went unnoticed as it arrived shortly after midday at the tarmac entrance, ready for takeoff.

On board were some of the final 180 French military personnel still based in Chad. For them and for France, a page has been turned, ending their presence at the Adji Kossei Base, Paris's last permanent foothold in the Sahel and, more broadly, the stronghold of the former colonial power's military presence in sub-Saharan Africa since independence in 1960.

The handover to the Chadian authorities of this base adjoining the capital's airport took place earlier in the morning, at the conclusion of a quiet ceremony between French and Chadian military personnel to which the press was not invited. After a final round of "Les Marseillaise," the French flag was lowered to make way for the lone Chadian standard. The keys to the base were then symbolically handed over by General Pascal Ianni, chief of the French Command for Africa, to General Abakar Abdelkerim Daoud, chief of the General Staff of the Chadian Armed Forces.

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