Impressions of Abidjan

A view of Abidjan's Plateau district with Place de la République in the foreground

A bit over a year ago, I attended a conference of African seminaries in Addis Ababa. All participants were disturbed to learn that our friends from Côte d’Ivoire would be unable to attend due to the unrest and conflict in the country following a contested presidential election. This conflict was destructive indeed, leading to loss of life and the near complete shut-down of the Ivoirian economy for several weeks. It seems a bit amazing upon reflection that just a bit more than a year later, our friends in Abidjan not only participated in a follow-up conference, but managed to host it very well in their fine city. Although the emotional scars run deep, a casual observer would have no idea that this was not long ago a conflict zone.

African cities, it seems to me, come in two types. One type consists primarily of low-rise buildings spreading over a large area with lots of tree-lined, dusty streets. Sometimes, such cities seem to be something akin to a big village, possessing an undeniable charm. Cities like Bangui (Central Africa), Ibadan (Nigeria), Thiès (Senegal), and Bulawayo (Zimabwe) have struck me in this way. The other type of African city soars up in skyscrapers, buzzes with activity in business districts, and is filled with a constant flow of taxis, cars, buses, donkey carts (at least north of the Limpopo), and pedestrians. Nairobi (Kenya), Johannesburg and Cape Town (South Africa), Maputo (Mozambique), Dakar (Senegal), and Accra (Ghana) definitely fit that latter mold. Abidjan is perhaps the quintessential model of such a city, with its towering banks and hotels along the lagunes, its flashing neon lights at night, and its broad avenues of flowing (or not-so-flowing at times) traffic.

Abidjan sits just north of the Atlantic coast around a series of lagunes. It is definitely a city dominated by water. It remains the commercial capital of Côte d’Ivoire. At one point, it was the leading center of Francophone West Africa, a title it has struggled to keep through the conflicts of the past 20 years. It remains a grand place, with bold French colonial architecture, dramatic monuments, and broad avenues. The city center is dominated by a public garden, lushly filled with tropical trees and plants. A large business district - called the Plateau - is filled with bank towers and other buildings.

Unlike many cities in Africa, which are linguistically dominated by a “trade language” that stands alongside the former colonial language, Abidjan is undeniably Francophone. Although I’m told that Bambara (the main language of Mali to the north) is used in market trading, French is clearly the language of the street. In fact, Abidjan seemed to me the most “French” of the French-speaking cities of Africa, with some very Parisian elements.

One has to wonder what Abidjan could be had it not been for the destructive wars and conflicts of recent years. Regardless, the fresh breeze off of the lagunes and the sea, the verdant green of its tropical trees, and the prevalence of beautiful West African cloth in myriad forms make Abidjan a fascinating city to behold.