Abidjan is one of Africa's most dynamic cities: noisy, modern, tropical and full of energy. Born in the early 20th century as a simple colonial railway station on the Ébrié Lagoon, within a few decades it became the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire and the great business city of French-speaking West Africa. The Plateau's skyscrapers, reflected in the water, earned it the nickname 'the Manhattan of the tropics', while its working-class neighbourhoods pulse to the beat of coupé-décalé.
The city spreads across a lagoon criss-crossed by bridges and boats: the elegant business district of the Plateau; Cocody, residential and green, with the university and the embassies; lively Treichville with its markets and maquis; industrial Marcory and Koumassi; and Yopougon, the most populous and working-class district. Right on the doorstep of the centre survives an unusual treasure: Banco National Park, a primary tropical rainforest with monkeys and birds inside the city.
This guide takes a practical look at Abidjan: what to see in the Plateau and on the lagoon, how to visit St Paul's Cathedral and the Museum of Civilisations, how to get around safely, where to eat a good 'attiéké' with fish or 'garba', and how to use the city as a base for trips to Grand-Bassam, Banco and the beaches along the coast. With two or three well-planned days, Abidjan turns out to be vibrant, welcoming and very untouristy.
Abidjan barely existed little more than a century ago: the site was home to Ébrié fishing villages by the lagoon when, in 1903, the French set up a station there for their railway into the interior. The opening of the Vridi Canal in 1950, which connected the lagoon to the sea and created a major port, sent its growth soaring; by 1934 it had already replaced Bingerville as the colony's capital. After independence in 1960, under the long rule of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan enjoyed an economic 'miracle' that filled it with skyscrapers and made it a magnet for the whole region. Its story — from lagoon village to metropolis — is told on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The economic heart of the country: from the first colonial capital at Grand-Bassam to the skyscrapers of the Plateau reflected in the Ébrié Lagoon, the "Manhattan of the tropics".
Read the history of Abidjan and the lagoon →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Long before there were skyscrapers, the shores of the Ébrié Lagoon were home to fishing and farming peoples. Most were Ébrié (who call themselves Tchaman), alongside other lagoon groups such as the Adjoukrou, Alladian and Attié. They lived in scattered villages between the water and the forest, traded fish and salt, and crossed the lagoon in dugout canoes. The area was a patchwork of small communities with no large centralised states, very different from the Akan kingdoms to the east or the peoples of the north.
The city's name comes with a well-known legend. A European explorer is said to have asked a local man what the place was called. The man was cutting branches and thought he was being asked what he was doing, so he answered something like 'tchan m'bi djan' ('I've just cut the leaves'), and that supposedly became 'Abidjan'. True or not, the story captures the meeting, and the misunderstanding, between the lagoon peoples and the newly arrived Europeans.
The Portuguese had sailed along this coast since the 15th century, and later French and English traders came looking for ivory, gold and, sadly, slaves. But the Ivorian coast had no natural harbours and was pounded by a dangerous line of surf, so for centuries it was one of the hardest parts of West Africa to reach. This slowed European penetration compared with neighbouring regions.
Modern Abidjan grew out of a colonial project: the railway. France had set up its colony of Côte d'Ivoire in 1893, and in the early 20th century it wanted a railway linking the coast with the interior and with neighbouring Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso) to carry out farm produce. It also needed a healthy, practical spot on the lagoon for the start of the line.
In 1903 the French chose the small village of Abidjan, on the shores of the Ébrié Lagoon, as the starting point of the railway. It replaced earlier sites such as Grand-Bassam (hit hard by yellow fever) and Bingerville. Land was drained, tracks were laid and an orderly colonial town grew up in separate districts: the Plateau for Europeans and the administration, and other areas for the African population and for traders, many of whom came from other colonies.
The lagoon, however, was cut off from the sea by a sandbar, so there could be no proper deep-water port. Ships still struggled to unload across the surf at Grand-Bassam or Port-Bouët. Despite this, Abidjan kept growing in importance, and in 1934 it officially replaced Bingerville as capital of the colony of Côte d'Ivoire. One project was still missing, though, the one that would truly transform it: opening the lagoon to the ocean.
The turning point in Abidjan's history was the Vridi Canal, opened in 1950 after years of work. This man-made canal cut through the sandbar separating the Ébrié Lagoon from the Gulf of Guinea. The lagoon was finally connected to the sea, and large ships could enter a sheltered, deep-water inland port.
Almost overnight, Abidjan went from an awkward coastal stop to the leading port of French-speaking West Africa. Cocoa, coffee, timber and the other goods the country was starting to export in bulk now had a modern, efficient outlet. The Autonomous Port of Abidjan became the economic engine of the whole region, and the city began to grow at a dizzying pace, drawing workers from all over the country and from neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, Félix Houphouët-Boigny was coming to the fore. He was a doctor, a planter, a union leader for African farmers and later a politician. As founder of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), Houphouët-Boigny negotiated a transition towards self-rule with France and even served as a minister in French governments. When Côte d'Ivoire became independent on 7 August 1960, he became its first president, and Abidjan, its capital, was ready for take-off.
For Abidjan, the first two decades of independence were a time of spectacular growth, the so-called 'Ivorian miracle'. Houphouët-Boigny governed for a long time (1960-1993), and cocoa and coffee prices were high. Côte d'Ivoire became the world's largest cocoa producer, and the economic boom that followed showed in the capital.
The Plateau filled up with modern skyscrapers, bank and company headquarters, international hotels and landmark buildings. Among them were the pyramid-shaped tower of La Pyramide, the Hôtel Ivoire (with a skyscraper, a convention centre and even an ice rink, something unheard of in the tropics) and, later, the bold St Paul's Cathedral, consecrated by John Paul II in 1985. Abidjan earned the nicknames 'the Manhattan of the tropics' and 'the Pearl of the Lagoons', and it drew millions of migrants from all over the country and from Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and other neighbours.
That growth was also deeply unequal. Huge working-class and informal neighbourhoods grew up next to the wealthy modern districts, and depending on cocoa left the country exposed when prices fell. When those prices collapsed in the 1980s, the economy went into crisis and debt soared. The social and political tensions that the one-party regime had held down for decades began to surface. Also in 1983, Houphouët-Boigny officially moved the capital to Yamoussoukro, his home village, although in practice Abidjan remained (and still remains) the real heart of the country.
Houphouët-Boigny's death in 1993 opened a turbulent period. A power struggle, tensions over 'ivoirité' and a coup in 1999 led to civil war. 'Ivoirité' was an exclusionary idea of who counted as a 'true' Ivorian, and it hit migrants from the north and their descendants hardest. In 2002 an uprising split the country in two: the government held the south, including Abidjan, and the rebels held the north. The city went through years of insecurity, violence and economic crisis.
The most dramatic moment came in 2010-2011. After a disputed election between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, both declared themselves president and a second civil war broke out. Abidjan saw heavy fighting, especially in 2011, and hundreds of people died. It ended when Gbagbo was captured and Ouattara took office. These were the city's darkest years since independence.
Since then, though, Abidjan has made a remarkable comeback. Peace and years of strong economic growth have modernised the city. The large Henri Konan Bédié Bridge (2014) was built across the lagoon, motorways and the airport were expanded, the port and whole neighbourhoods were renovated, and work began on the first metro line. Abidjan is once again the big business hub of West Africa and a host for major events, such as the 2023-2024 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament. Today the old railway station on the lagoon is a booming metropolis of more than six million people, looking to the future without forgetting its hard years.
