CHAPITRE 051960–1980

Houphouët-Boigny and the 'Ivorian Miracle'

The founding father, cocoa and modernist confidence

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Félix Houphouët-Boigny, a Baoulé cocoa planter, doctor and politician, was president from independence in 1960 until his death in 1993. Coffee and cocoa exports and close ties with France brought strong growth in the 1960s and 70s, known as the 'Ivorian miracle', and Abidjan was nicknamed 'the Manhattan of Africa'.

When cocoa prices collapsed in the 1980s a debt crisis followed and the miracle faded. But the buildings, hotels and urban scale of that era still form Abidjan's skeleton.

CE QUE VOUS VERREZ · What you will see

Abidjan's Plateau district has a run of bold 1960s–70s modern buildings: La Pyramide, Hôtel Ivoire, towers on the lagoon. Many institutions, bridges and universities are named after Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

POURQUOI · So what

Most of the 'grand' buildings you see in Abidjan are products of that optimistic era. Once you know this, you can read the city's confidence and its sense of loss.

SAVOIR-FAIRE · How to use it

Point at La Pyramide or Hôtel Ivoire and say: 'This is architecture from the Ivorian miracle.' Then add that Abidjan once had an ice rink and an international conference centre. It is the most effective way to open a city tour.

Asian and European parallelsLike Taiwan's economic miracle and its Ten Major Construction Projects, or Singapore's founding story: a strong leader, a period of high growth and a set of symbolic buildings.

On these routes

Three Days in the Heart of the Country: Yamoussoukro and Baoulé Land