Abidjan is the largest city in Ivory Coast and the commercial capital of French-speaking West Africa, a metropolis of roughly 6.3 million people built across and around the Ebrie Lagoon on the Gulf of Guinea. Its thirteen communes range from the high-rise banking district of Plateau and the villa quarters of Cocody to the vast working neighbourhoods of Abobo, Adjame and Yopougon, linked by bridges, shared taxis and lagoon boats.
Best souvenirs
Authentic items worth bringing home.
Toile de Korhogo — hand-painted cotton cloth from the Senufo north, figures and animals drawn in fermented mud dye (5,000-40,000 XOF / USD 8.77-70.18)
Wax-print pagne, six yards, from the Abidjan mills Uniwax and Woodin (12,000-45,000 XOF / USD 21.05-78.95 per six-yard piece)
Carved wooden masks — Dan (Yacouba) face masks, Baoulé portrait masks, Guro dance crests (10,000-150,000 XOF / USD 17.54-263.16)
Senufo carving — stools, kpelié figures and the tall Senufo bird (15,000-120,000 XOF / USD 26.32-210.53)
Akan brass goldweights and lost-wax bronze figurines, sold as reproductions (5,000-50,000 XOF / USD 8.77-87.72)
Ivorian craft chocolate and cocoa from Abidjan makers such as Mon Choco and Instant Chocolat (3,000-12,000 XOF / USD 5.26-21.05)
Ivorian robusta coffee, ground or whole bean (2,500-8,000 XOF / USD 4.39-14.04 per 250-500 g)
Shea butter (beurre de karité) and African black soap (1,500-6,000 XOF / USD 2.63-10.53)
Raffia and woven baskets, mats and fans from the northern markets (4,000-25,000 XOF / USD 7.02-43.86)
Djembé drums, balafons and kora-style string instruments (20,000-120,000 XOF / USD 35.09-210.53)
Glass-bead and bronze jewellery, plus Baoulé-style pendants (3,000-40,000 XOF / USD 5.26-70.18)
Packaged attiéké (dried fermented cassava couscous), the Abidjan staple, vacuum-packed for travel (1,000-3,000 XOF / USD 1.75-5.26)
Traditional markets
Where locals shop and travellers find treasures.
Grand Marché de Treichville
Abidjan's best-known covered market, a two-level hall in the Zone 2B of Treichville that has traded since the colonial era. The upper floor is given over to textiles — wax-print pagne, Korhogo cloth, embroidery and tailoring stalls — while the ground level and the surrounding streets carry spices, smoked and dried fish, beads, shoes, cosmetics and household goods. Prices are negotiated on almost everything.
Where: Treichville, about 2 km south of Le Plateau across the Houphouët-Boigny bridge
Hours: Daily 07:00-18:00; busiest 08:00-12:00
Grand Marché d'Adjamé
The largest and loudest market in Abidjan, spilling out of its halls on Avenue Joseph Attoumbre across the streets of Adjamé. It is primarily a wholesale hub that also sells retail: fabric by the bale, clothing, shoes, plastics, electronics, hardware and food, much of it destined for smaller shops across the city and the interior. The adjoining Marché Gouro handles wholesale fruit, vegetables and yams and works hardest before dawn.
Where: Adjamé, beside the Adjamé-Nord bus and gbaka terminals, 3 km north of Le Plateau
Hours: Daily 06:00-18:00; Marché Gouro produce trading busiest 05:00-09:00
Marché de Cocody
The neighbourhood market of Cocody on Rue Booker Washington, smaller and far calmer than Treichville or Adjamé. Stalls sell fruit and vegetables, fish, spices, wax print, second-hand clothing and household goods to residents of Danga and Blockhaus rather than to wholesalers, which keeps the pace slow enough for browsing. The Allocodrome grill courtyard sits directly beside it and fills in the evening.
Where: Cocody, just off Boulevard de France near the Cocody town hall
Hours: Daily about 07:00-18:00
Centre Artisanal de la Ville d'Abidjan (CAVA)
The city's craft market, laid out as a village of small red-brick shops on Rue du Canal in Zone 4B, Marcory. Stalls sell Korhogo cloth, batik, wax print, Dan and Baoulé masks, Senufo carving, brass goldweights, beadwork, leather, baskets and painting, drawn from across Côte d'Ivoire and the wider region — Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Guinea. Several artisans work in view, and a few maquis inside the compound serve breakfast and lunch. Opening quotes for visitors run far above the settling price, so bargaining is essential.
Where: Marcory Zone 4, between Boulevard Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Rue Clément Ader
Hours: Mon-Sat about 08:00-18:00; reduced trading on Sunday
Cap Sud
One of Abidjan's original modern shopping centres, with roughly 95 shops across more than 20,000 m² in Marcory and a 3,000 m² Hyper Hayat hypermarket as its anchor. The gallery mixes international names — Mango, Celio, Yves Rocher, Havaianas, Go Sport, L'Occitane — with pharmacies, phone repair, a photo studio, cafés and restaurants. It sits beside the Félix Houphouët-Boigny interchange and next door to the Azalaï hotel.
Where: Marcory, at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny interchange south of the lagoon
Hours: Shops daily 09:00-19:30; Hyper Hayat hypermarket to 22:00
PlaYce Marcory
The mall that brought Carrefour to West Africa, opened in December 2015 on the contre-allée of Boulevard Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Marcory. Its 20,000 m² hold a 3,200 m² Carrefour hypermarket, a gallery of about 55 boutiques and a food court seating more than 400. It is operated by CFAO, and the Carrefour is the most reliable place in Abidjan for imported groceries, baby supplies and pharmacy basics.
Where: Marcory Zone 4, at the southern end of the Général de Gaulle bridge
Hours: Shops Mon-Fri 09:00-19:30, Sat 09:00-20:00, Sun 10:30-19:00; Carrefour hypermarket longer
PlaYce Palmeraie
The eastern-suburb sister of PlaYce Marcory, opened in 2017 on Boulevard Germain Koffi Gadeau in the Palmeraie district of Cocody. It is built around a Carrefour hypermarket with a gallery of fashion, beauty, phone and homeware brands and a food court, and it serves the fast-growing Riviera and Bingerville corridor. Parking is free and far easier than at the Marcory mall.
Where: Cocody Palmeraie, on the eastern road toward Bingerville
Hours: Shops Mon-Fri 09:00-19:30, Sat 09:00-21:00, Sun 10:00-19:00
Sococé Deux Plateaux
Abidjan's longest-running shopping centre, open since 1996 on Rue K125 off Boulevard Latrille in Cocody Deux Plateaux. More than 20,000 m² hold a Hyper U hypermarket, around 38 shop units including Kiabi, Mango, Celio, Havaianas and Go Sport, restaurants and the Majestic Sococé cinema. It is the default weekend outing for the Deux Plateaux and Angré neighbourhoods.
Where: Cocody Deux Plateaux, on Boulevard Latrille near the Agban junction
Hours: Daily 08:30-20:30; cinema screenings later
Prima Center
A compact shopping gallery on Avenue Amadou Thiam in Marcory, a short walk from Cap Sud. It runs to clothing and shoe shops, phone and electronics dealers, beauty counters, banking and mobile-money agents and small eateries, and it draws local shoppers rather than visitors. It is useful for a SIM card, a phone repair or a quick errand between the bigger malls.
Where: Marcory, between Boulevard Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the Marcory residential grid
Hours: Mon-Sat about 09:00-19:00; reduced Sunday hours
Cosmos Yopougon
The main shopping centre of Yopougon, Abidjan's most populous commune, on the Boulevard Principal. It combines a supermarket, a gallery of clothing, beauty and phone shops and fast-food outlets with the Cosmos multiplex cinema, which made it the west-side alternative to crossing the lagoon for a film. Weekend evenings are its busiest hours.
Where: Yopougon, on the main boulevard about 12 km west of Le Plateau
Hours: Shops daily about 09:00-20:00; cinema screenings later
Shopping districts
Neighbourhoods known for retail.
Malls & modern shopping
Air-conditioned, international brands, and food courts.
Bargaining tips
Negotiate like a local.
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Customs & restrictions
What you can and can't take home.
Items:
- Info
- Côte d'Ivoire operates no VAT refund scheme for departing tourists. The 18% TVA is already inside the marked price at supermarkets and mall boutiques, and market traders do not issue tax paperwork at all
- Tip
- Ask for a 'facture' at Carrefour, Hyper U or Cap Sud if a receipt is needed for customs or insurance at home — it will not generate a refund
- Info
- Trading hours: markets run from dawn to about 18:00 and are at their fullest between 08:00 and 12:00; mall boutiques open roughly 09:00-19:30 Monday to Saturday with shorter Sunday hours, while the Carrefour, Hyper U and Hyper Hayat hypermarkets trade later, to 20:30 or 22:00
- Tip
- Sunday morning is the quietest time in the malls and the deadest in the markets; many Adjamé and Treichville traders take Sunday off entirely
- Info
- Payment: CFA franc cash rules the markets and the CAVA. Mobile money — Orange Money, MTN MoMo and Wave — is accepted almost everywhere including craft stalls, while Visa and Mastercard work at the hypermarkets, mall chains and hotels, occasionally with a surcharge at small shops
- Tip
- ATMs of Société Générale, Ecobank, NSIA, BICICI and UBA cluster on the Plateau and at Cap Sud and PlaYce Marcory; withdrawal fees run 3,000-5,000 XOF / USD 5.26-8.77 and machines usually cap a transaction at 200,000-400,000 XOF / USD 350.88-701.75
- Info
- Authenticity: nearly every 'antique' mask on sale is a recent carving darkened with shoe polish, wood stain or smoke. Genuine Uniwax and Woodin wax cloth carries a printed selvedge stamp with the brand name and a registration number, which the cheaper imported imitations do not
- Tip
- Buy carvings for the quality of the work rather than an age claim, and check that the two faces of a length of wax print are equally saturated with colour — a pale reverse side means a printed imitation, not true wax
- Info
- Export rules: ivory, sea-turtle shell, and python and crocodile skin are barred by CITES and will be seized at the departure airport or on arrival at home, and objects of genuine cultural patrimony require clearance from the Ministry of Culture before they can leave the country
- Tip
- Much of what is offered as 'ivory' in Abidjan markets is bone, cow horn or resin; ask the seller to write 'reproduction, bois / os' on the receipt and keep it for customs
- Info
- Currency: the West African CFA franc (XOF) is pegged to the euro at a fixed 1 EUR = 655.957 XOF, so euro prices are stable and dollar prices move with the euro. This page converts at 1 USD = 570 XOF
- Tip
- The XOF used in Abidjan is not interchangeable with the Central African CFA franc (XAF) used in Cameroon or Gabon, even though both are written FCFA — spend or change it before leaving the region