Relations between Germany and Côte d’Ivoire have traditionally been friendly.

Germany is held in high regard in Côte d’Ivoire and is assisting the country with its development and reform policy, as illustrated by Côte d’Ivoire’s inclusion in the G20 initiative Compact with Africa under the German G20 Presidency in 2017 and by the conclusion of a bilateral reform and investment partnership, for example.

Côte d’Ivoire has great interest in intensifying economic relations with Germany. With around 29 million inhabitants (as of 2021), Côte d’Ivoire is one of the largest economies in West Africa. It is the leading economic power in francophone Africa and one of the continent’s fastest-growing countries. Its economic importance is based mainly on its role as the biggest supplier of cocoa to Germany’s cocoa-processing industry.

Germany is represented across the board in Côte d’Ivoire, with organisations ranging from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and the German Investment and Development Company, to a Delegate Office of German Industry and Commerce and a correspondent from Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI). There is also a Goethe-Institut in Abidjan that not only offers language courses, but also plays an active role in shaping the city’s cultural life through the wide‑ranging programme it organises. Student and academic exchange and scholarship programmes are coordinated by a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) lector, who is based at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.

There are some 400,000 people learning German in Côte d'Ivoire. The universities in Abidjan and Bouaké have large German studies departments with around 2000 students.

Bilateral development cooperation in the context of the reform partnership is focused on supporting the energy sector as well as creating job prospects and promoting private investment. Germany also supports efforts to preserve the Taï National Park (West Africa’s largest intact rainforest) and the Comoé National Park (savannah park in the north-east of the country) as well as to strengthen good governance. Furthermore, Germany is engaged in promoting security in the country, not least through the prevention of violent extremism.