A Gabonese brigade participates in a training exercise as part of a military program linked to the Franco-Gabonese partnership at Camp de Gaulle, the French military base, in Libreville on March 19, 2025. (Photo by Nao Mukadi / AFP)

In Libreville, one of the last French military bases in Africa has become a shared camp focused on training.
At their peak, there were nearly 1,200 soldiers stationed, sometimes accompanied by their families, in this Central African country. By 2026, there will be only 100, primarily dedicated to training the Gabonese defence forces.
And the drastic reduction in French troops has given way to the installation of two entities under Gabonese military command, in which French soldiers are deployed, within the camp.
The Libreville Defence Forces Administration School (EAFDL) was recently inaugurated, and the site will soon house an Academy for the Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources (APERN), designed to train officers in the fight against poaching and illegal gold mining.