Relationship dossier
France
Ivory Coast
Relationship assessment
A close partnership shaped by defense and development cooperation, with lasting sensitivities over French influence.
France toward Ivory Coast
+65France has maintained defense and development cooperation with Côte d’Ivoire, including military cooperation under bilateral arrangements. French forces intervened during the 2010–2011 post-election crisis, a significant and contested episode in French policy toward the country.
Ivory Coast toward France
+65Côte d’Ivoire has maintained defense and development cooperation with France under bilateral arrangements and continued engagement with French military forces. These ties coexist with domestic and political sensitivities about French influence.
Overall relationship
+65The relationship is sustained by long-standing defense, economic and development links, while the French military role in Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010–2011 crisis and wider concerns about French influence complicate the partnership. Cooperation remains a defining feature, but the relationship is not free of political tension.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
France and Côte d’Ivoire maintain a close, durable relationship involving defense, economic and development cooperation. Their post-independence ties include a bilateral defense agreement and continued military cooperation. France’s intervention during Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010–2011 post-election crisis also remains a contentious feature of the relationship, alongside broader sensitivities about French influence.
Areas of tension
- Controversy over French military intervention during Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010–2011 post-election crisis
- Political sensitivities concerning French influence and the colonial legacy
Key developments
France and Côte d’Ivoire concluded a bilateral defense agreement after independence, forming a basis for subsequent military cooperation.
French forces intervened during the post-election crisis that culminated in the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo in April 2011, a consequential and contested episode in bilateral relations.
Major uncertainties
- The current scope and implementation of defense and security cooperation are unclear.
- The extent to which economic and development cooperation has changed in recent years is uncertain.