The Ivory Coast They Don't Want You to See!

本站添加: 2026-05-12

[00:00:02]Ivory Coast is a country that most of the world barely registers on the radar.

[00:00:06]Yet, it produces over 45% of the world's cocoa.

[00:00:14]This is cocoa. It has 24 hours electricity, highways that look like they belong in Europe, and somewhere in the middle of it all, the largest church on Earth.

[00:00:26]The height of the building is 158 m and the height of St. Peter of Vatican City is 136 m. So the difference is 22 m. Oh wow. Before I came here, all I knew about it was that it's the home of two legendary football players I grew up watching. Did Drogba and Yayur >> DROGBA THAT WAS SEAMLESS.

[00:00:49]>> Just 20 years ago, this same country was in the middle of a full-blown civil war.

[00:00:53]So how did it undergo such a massive transformation?

[00:00:56]>> The quality of life in Abijon for me is topless. It's also that they call us pretty parry. We have the paris of Africa.

[00:01:06]>> I spent a lot of time exploring English speaking Africa like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania. But franophhone Africa has always been this slightly different world I haven't fully stepped into. So over the next few days, I'm going to explore Abijan, travel to the administrative capital, dig into the history. I'll meet the locals, try the food, and explore significant sites to reveal a different side of Ivory Coast, especially the parts you won't find online.

[00:01:42]Yeah, what's up guys? What's popping?

[00:01:44]Today we are currently in Abijan. Ivory Coast and I'm currently in a place they call Plateau. It's literally in the middle of the city. It's at the city center. I'm just walking on the streets literally like how I would do if I was actually in Europe. My first impression is that the city look looks really clean. They probably clean it like probably maybe every day. And yeah, it's calm and peaceful too at the moment.

[00:02:07]One of the things I also noticed too is that there's this building that they have is probably the tallest building in Africa.

[00:02:13]>> Oh yeah. The level of development here is something else. I could see many high-rise buildings and overhead bridges similar to those I'd seen in places like Atlanta or Houston.

[00:02:40]The more I explored the city, the more I realized how massive it was. The city of Abijan has over 6 million people living in it and construction was going on almost every day.

[00:02:51]Guys, one of the hardest parts about being here in Fangopon, Africa is that a lot of people don't speak English.

[00:02:57]Hello, bro. You speak English?

[00:02:59]>> No English. Ah.

[00:03:06]Bonjour. Is it bonjour?

[00:03:09]No. Bonjour. Bonjour in the morning. But this is the afternoon now. Yeah. After.

[00:03:17]>> Okay. What's your name, sir?

[00:03:21]>> Okay. I'm nice to meet you.

[00:03:27]>> Nice to meet you, too.

[00:04:04]How do people move around?

[00:04:10]You guys have Uber? Yeah, Uber.

[00:04:12]>> Uber. They closed the company last year in September. So, we only have one company which is like Yango.

[00:04:18]>> Yango.

[00:04:19]>> Yango. They have a monopoly. There's another one called in but is most more popular >> popular and it's expensive to take it from Abigan.

[00:04:26]>> Crazy.

[00:04:28]>> One of the most shocking things about being here was how expensive everything was. I really wasn't informed.

[00:04:33]>> Aban is the most expensive city in West Africa. You need to be clever on how you spend especially when you're a tourist.

[00:04:40]There are things you see on Instagram, social media that you're not supposed to replicate.

[00:04:45]>> Yes, Africa is expensive even for us. Is it more expensive than Ghana?

[00:04:49]>> Yes, it's even going like more and more more and more expensive for us. Rent is crazy expensive. Transportation like you can take 30% of your salary in transportation.

[00:04:59]>> Really?

[00:05:00]>> Yes.

[00:05:01]>> The taxi that took us around cost us $250 a day while our basic hotel room cost us over $120.

[00:05:10]>> What would you say the rent prices here like? For example, if I wanted to rent, let's say, a two-bedroom apartment or what?

[00:05:15]>> Oo, it will depend on the neighborhood.

[00:05:17]Like anything from 300K to 500 600 >> per month or per year?

[00:05:23]>> Per month. We pay here per month. Like in Ghana, not not like in >> Not like in Nigeria.

[00:05:27]>> Oh, in Nigeria. It's per year as well.

[00:05:28]Per year. Oh, wow.

[00:05:38]>> Two bedroom.

[00:05:39]>> Two bedroom and one living room.

[00:05:43]So, this is the first bedroom.

[00:05:45]>> Oh, this is nice cuz you can you can get the view of the place from the first bedroom.

[00:05:55]Oh, okay. Then this is the final bedroom. Yeah.

[00:06:14]So, is it like a rich area?

[00:06:17]>> Yeah, rich area.

[00:06:24]>> How much is uh this apartment to rent it out? Okay.

[00:06:30]Per month. Yeah.

[00:06:33]>> You need to be a millionaire if you want to be living here, man.

[00:06:37]I've complained about how expensive Lagos or Ara is probably a thousand times on this channel, but Abigan officially takes the crown as the most expensive city in West Africa. The only thing that was remotely affordable was the food, which we had to eat at the most local spots to get the best price.

[00:06:57]So guys, this is a big food spot where you can buy almost any type of food you want. So, want to try out some local foods while we're here.

[00:07:12]Merci cool.

[00:07:15]So this food is called what? Yeah. Plali as a sauce. But why is it cold? It's called It's always called like this. Not hot.

[00:07:24]>> No. No. No. What about >> Okay, guys. We're about to try out Pakali and Sauce Grand. This is the one of their local delicacies in local food.

[00:07:36]Local food in Ivory Coast.

[00:07:43]Oh, this is like fufu and I'm going to soup. We have something like this in Nigeria. Ah, okay.

[00:07:50]Now, this is good, man.

[00:07:53]This is I like it. Delicious.

[00:07:59]Before we continue our exploration, I would love to thank the sponsor of today's video, Nomad E Sim. If you are a traveler like me, you know that whenever you visit a new country, your local SIM card stops working. For this trip, I had to get a new SIM card at the airport to access the internet. This process is always very stressful, and there have been times where I've gotten stuck in a new country where they don't speak the same language as mine. I've had cases where I couldn't book accommodation or even request an Uber because I didn't have access to the internet. Well, that's until I discovered the Nomad EIM service app, which connects me to the internet without the use of any physical SIMs. It works in over 200 destinations worldwide, giving me the best rates and eliminating all my roaming fees. All I needed to do was to download the Nomad EIM service app from the Android or iOS store, select my country, select the number of days I need it for, impute the discount code, and just like that, I was connected to the internet.

[00:08:58]>> Nomad EIM gives you more value for every journey as you earn points with every purchase, which you can redeem in the future. If you love to support this channel and elevate your travel experience, click on the link below and impute the code tio 20 at checkout and you get a 20% discount on your first purchase. Now, let's jump right back into the video.

[00:09:27]I always thought Lagos traffic was bad, but being here I realized it was even crazier as we spent hours stuck in traffic on several occasions.

[00:09:35]>> There's way too many cars because now, you know, we have a lot of you, I don't know if you've noticed, there's a lot of Chinese cars.

[00:09:41]>> Yeah, I know. So, they've made it affordable to own a car. So, a lot of people, I would say middle class, you know, everybody now can have a car. So, it said too many cars on the road.

[00:10:08]>> The name of this place is Ajami.

[00:10:10]>> Is this the biggest market in Ivos?

[00:10:12]>> Is the biggest market in every course.

[00:10:13]Everyone know. As I say that if you want something, you just have to go to Ajame.

[00:10:19]Oh, you can find anything at >> everything.

[00:10:22]>> Everything.

[00:10:23]>> AJ Market is the largest market in the Ivy Coast. And the moment I walked through it, I had a full sensory flashback to Balugon Market in Lagos, Nigeria.

[00:10:36]So, this place is called France Oro. All the things that people didn't want from other different places, they import it in here and then they sell it to different people. It's what we call Tokumbo in Nigeria. So, this market has different sections. We have lots of people on the left and on the right.

[00:10:52]Lots of ebo people from Nigeria. This where they sell stuff. And this market is divided into multiple sections. They have the Ghanian part. They have the Nigerian part. There's multiple things happening.

[00:11:05]>> Bonju. Where you from?

[00:11:07]>> Speak English. This guy.

[00:11:08]>> You're from Nigeria.

[00:11:11]>> How you doing?

[00:11:13]It's like I know you from YouTube. You see >> how you did?

[00:11:19]Well done. So I I'll market I'll market for you now.

[00:11:22]>> What do you What do you sell? You sell like TV?

[00:11:26]>> Uh how long have you been here?

[00:11:29]>> I've been here for quite some time. Um up to a year and down.

[00:11:33]>> A year. And how how is it like for you like living here? What's it like? Do you like it here?

[00:11:38]>> Yes. Yes. It's fine.

[00:11:39]>> Better than Nigeria.

[00:11:43]you know, >> tell me tell the truth. What's the difference? Tell me what's the difference.

[00:11:46]>> Um, you know, light is more costier than Nigeria.

[00:11:52]>> So, you know, um, it helps with um, productivity and investment.

[00:11:59]>> But Nigerian food is better.

[00:12:00]>> Nigerian is better.

[00:12:03]>> Are they Nigerian restaurants here?

[00:12:05]>> Yeah, they are. Well, well, well.

[00:12:07]>> I heard that there's a lot of Nigerians also here too, like in this market.

[00:12:11]develop mostly here are mostly EOS.

[00:12:13]>> EOS. Yeah. Right.

[00:12:15]>> Oh, wow.

[00:12:21]>> What surprised me was the organization underneath all of this chaos. The EOS from Nigeria dominated the electronic section. The Ghanaians ran clothing and shoes and the locals mostly controlled most of the food trade.

[00:12:37]is like the herb to find ner and because of that in a vision we have a wish of the mix of everything.

[00:12:50]>> Why do you think it's like that? Why why is everybody accepted here? Is it that you guys are more welcoming?

[00:12:55]>> That's that's all the things is known like like the mostitable country >> in West Africa. West African.

[00:13:16]>> In the past year, the name Ivory Coast has been synonymous with winning and football. Made even more popular by hosting the Afan Cup in 2024.

[00:13:24]>> Can he cross? IT'S A GREAT BALL. IT'S A GOAL. THERE THEY ARE, THE CHAMPIONS of Africa.

[00:13:33]I don't watch any football, but there was no way I was coming to the Ivy Coast without visiting the Felix Hoput Boyer Stadium.

[00:13:42]>> So, welcome to our stadium.

[00:13:44]>> Wow. Okay.

[00:13:47]Wow. This is big. What's the capacity of this stadium?

[00:13:50]>> 47,900.

[00:13:52]>> Wow.

[00:13:53]>> Oh, I see this stuff on TV. This where the >> this Wait, wait, wait. They should put they should put me around to play.

[00:14:03]>> Oh, so that's where they see. Oh, it's a comfy chairs, man.

[00:14:06]>> So they sit down here and they watch the >> watch. That's when you're not you're not on the field.

[00:14:10]>> In the fields. Oh, wow. Okay.

[00:14:15]Whoop, guys. Check this out. This is where the ministers and the very important people stay to watch the match. But check out this view. I think one of the coolest parts is that just behind the stadium you can see the lake.

[00:14:30]I can imagine what watching a match here will be like. Looks pretty cool. Now the 2023 AFCON had a story nobody ever saw coming. Ivos came into the tournament as host. They started terribly and they were almost eliminated but then they somehow turned it around completely and won the whole thing becoming the first host nation to win AFCON since Nigeria back in 1980. What a fairy tale story here. They were dead and buried after the group phase. It's a magnificent comeback from the host country.

[00:15:01]>> Football isn't just a sport here. It's an identity and a source of national pride.

[00:15:06]>> Before we organize, we were famous but damaged because you know this competition weeded all the African competition. A lot of people came >> from everywhere. We've seen a lot of jets coming from Nigeria actually >> here. So they came they discovered a country that they never knew was that beautiful actually the night fire and we had cars that can take people from Abigan to Sedro to Yamus so they can go all around every course and visit all the things that we have and we did all the roads actually were done.

[00:15:41]>> No potholes.

[00:15:42]>> No potholes. We did everything before the >> afol. Wow. So all this was a good thing for our tourism politic because we noticed that just right after the everybody wanted to come to Kifa. It was a place to to go to.

[00:16:05]>> After days of exploring and understanding the country, I wanted to see how people unwind. And so I decided to check out Asini.

[00:16:24]I linked up with my friend Prince at a spot called Laameon Dakula. And from the moment I arrived, I understood why people make the 2-hour drive from Abujan just to come here.

[00:16:54]Lagoon on one side, ocean on the other side, music playing. This was the chill spot. And Ivorians sure know how to enjoy themselves and live life at full volume.

[00:17:13]As we love to say because we say that means is the sweetest in the world.

[00:17:22]>> You know because in we have all the foods and we have the best parties.

[00:17:26]>> You have the best parties. Yeah. I don't know.

[00:17:28]>> More than more than Nigeria.

[00:17:30]>> Yeah. Actually, >> are you sure?

[00:17:33]>> You know, we love to party in Gadima. We we like people. So we always want everyone to have fun. You cannot come here and decides.

[00:17:41]>> Having been to many dope spots in different African countries where the wealth isn't in the hands of the locals, I wanted to know who actually gets to live like this here.

[00:17:50]>> You know, it's a place where generally the rich people of the capital of Abigan the second house, second property.

[00:17:56]>> Oh, okay. So, so those houses are not hotels. All those houses, but there's al a lot of private properties. A lot. And some of them they rent to people like 500,000 safer. Really?

[00:18:10]>> Yes.

[00:18:10]>> For one night.

[00:18:12]>> That's one of my favorite place especially during the weekend or maybe when I have vacation. That's why I go because it's it's beautiful. The beach, the results, the services, the quality of services, everything is perfect for me over there. I know it's expensive for the average Aanian but it gives a quality of service you can't find elsewhere especially in West Africa and it's called as centrope if I have a visitor the first time I will bring it to Yamoko >> Yamuko >> yeahro because there's many good thing to see there >> to see in Yamuk >> I Thought Abijan was the capital of the Ivory Coast but now I realize it's a city called Yamosuko.

[00:19:01]>> Yamosuko is the fourth capital. Abigan is the third one. So Grasam first one second one. Abijan third one the current one.

[00:19:20]Right in the middle of the city, in the middle of West Africa, is the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, the largest church in the world.

[00:19:37]The height of the building is 158 m and the height of St. Peter of Vatican City is 136 m. So the difference is 22 majors.

[00:19:46]>> Oh wow.

[00:19:48]>> It cost over $300 million and was built by the Ivory Coast first president Felix Hoput Boyet.

[00:19:54]>> He gave for the construction of this building his own land.

[00:19:58]>> Oh, his coconut plantation.

[00:20:00]>> Oh, okay. So >> So we can see around the rest of the plantation.

[00:20:04]>> Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. I can see >> that part.

[00:20:10]Here we can speak without microphones during the service. So if you have we have problem with the microphones with during the service for example we can continue without microphones.

[00:20:22]>> Oh wow.

[00:20:22]>> Because the echo is left on purpose. But when we go closer to the ben >> so that means if you come to this place you can't gossip.

[00:20:32]>> Yeah.

[00:20:34]>> So this is the stairs to go upstairs.

[00:20:37]The stairs to go upstairs. upstairs, >> but we can't go upstairs cuz they're doing renovations. But >> he goes around.

[00:20:44]>> I'm trying to walk.

[00:20:45]>> Okay.

[00:20:48]>> 196 steps.

[00:20:49]>> 196 steps. Okay. I'm not going again.

[00:20:53]>> First the scene.

[00:20:54]>> Where do I sit down?

[00:20:55]>> Yeah. The priest sits here and the can first sit or can >> Okay.

[00:21:01]>> Down on it.

[00:21:02]>> So I can kne down.

[00:21:04]>> Yeah. If you want to try At that time >> guys you want me to confess all my sins to you people you know if I confess people will judge me so I'm not going to confess to you >> different kind of confession >> this thin glass is firstly the glass of the palm Sunday >> okay I can see something that is interesting there's a black man there who is that >> exactly is that the first president of this country While exploring Yamosuko, I was told to check out the presidential palace. I was shocked to discover that right out here in the open, there was a massive pond filled with crocodiles just lounging in the water like they paid rent.

[00:21:55]>> Guys, check out how massive this croc is. See how big it is with his mouth open. And this is just beside the road.

[00:22:01]We just have this beside the road over here.

[00:22:03]>> The first president, some politicians from Mali, Madagascar offer him crocodiles.

[00:22:11]>> Oh, really? They just gave him crocodiles.

[00:22:13]>> Yes. Offer a lot, you know, and they replicate the can see.

[00:22:19]>> Damn, this is big.

[00:22:21]>> Yeah.

[00:22:21]>> Oo, see the mouth.

[00:22:24]Damn, this is a dragon. So, you said you said that they eat what? What do they eat?

[00:22:28]>> They eat chicken. Chicken. Chicken.

[00:22:30]Yeah. They're just for >> So who just throw chicken inside?

[00:22:33]>> Yes.

[00:22:33]>> So who feeds them? The >> There's somebody. Yes. Living here. They feed them every day at night.

[00:22:38]>> Where's this? What's this place?

[00:22:40]>> This is the presidential palace. The first president house.

[00:22:43]>> Oh yes.

[00:22:44]>> So who is currently inside the presidential palace now? Is it still >> family? His family.

[00:22:48]>> This is the first president's family.

[00:22:50]President After all this exploring, my stomach was rumbling. So our guide, Kinsey, brought me to a local spot in Yamosuko called Boli Cro.

[00:23:12]>> Boly Cro, you know, is a place where we eat. By means goat.

[00:23:17]>> Okay. Boly means goat. Crow means village of >> village of. So village of >> house of goats. Yes.

[00:23:25]>> Oh, okay.

[00:23:27]>> Let's try out some >> food at Boliko in Yamosuko in Ivory Coast. Let's go.

[00:23:43]>> Oh, this looks very interesting, man.

[00:23:47]So guys, here I have this is grilled goats meat. I think this is aluko. And then this is a very interesting soup.

[00:23:56]It's called goat meat soup. And then we got rice here. So all of this 1 2 3 4.

[00:24:01]And this is our chicken. It's a meal. So I have to try it out. Let me take some of this. Put it here. I'm guessing.

[00:24:16]Okay. This is plantain like you guys always know.

[00:24:20]I think the goats meat that they have here is really they don't make it as spicy as the one in Nigeria, but it's actually pretty cool. Let me try this one that they have here and have some add some sauce.

[00:24:38]M.

[00:24:40]This is kind of like called we call this as in Nigeria. We call it Cabri Brazil.

[00:24:45]Yeah. We call this as in Nigeria.

[00:24:49]Real good.

[00:24:52]Really, really tasty.

[00:25:19]natural.

[00:25:22]According to the World Bank, agriculture is an important driver of agricost economy accounting for 22% of GDP and more than 75% of exports.

[00:25:32]>> Our economy is based on agriculture like cocoa. We are first producer in the world the cocoa palm oil. Palm oil. I think Nigeria is number one.

[00:25:41]>> Yeah, we're number one.

[00:25:44]>> So that means like cocoa is like the oil of ivory because it's kind of like >> Yes, exactly. Is the oil of avoc.

[00:25:51]>> Here's something I want you to sit with for a second. Ivory Coast produces over 45% of the world's cocoa, which means that almost half of every chocolate bar you have ever eaten started here. And yet Ivory Coast is not a rich country by global standards.

[00:26:06]The farmers here would never be able to afford the chocolate they help make. All this hard work earns Mark End Conan just a few dollars a day.

[00:26:15]>> Before I came here, I knew that stat, but I didn't fully understand it. So, I went to the Abel Center, an NGO that trains former prisoners and victims of human trafficking to become chocolaters.

[00:26:31]Guys, we're about to walk into the cocoa farm.

[00:26:38]So, this is the cocoa pod.

[00:26:40]>> Yes, the fruits.

[00:26:42]>> The fruits >> and the tree. The tree.

[00:26:45]>> So, guys, I'm about to harvest a cocoa pod from the cocoa tree. I make my own chocolate called fire chocolate. You take it just twist it.

[00:26:56]I got my cocoa.

[00:27:00]>> So guys, this is ripe cocoa pod. And from this you can open it up, get out the cocoa seeds and then turn it into chocolate.

[00:27:09]>> So like this and play more energy.

[00:27:15]>> Oh, okay. And play before.

[00:27:27]This is cocoa.

[00:27:28]>> Cocoa bean.

[00:27:29]>> Cocoa bean. Can I lick this one?

[00:27:31]>> No, you can.

[00:27:32]>> I can. Yeah.

[00:27:34]One.

[00:27:38]I can't taste anything.

[00:27:39]>> Take more.

[00:27:40]>> Should I chew it?

[00:27:41]>> No, don't chew it.

[00:27:42]>> No, you should just swallow it.

[00:27:44]>> Hey, swallow. Don't chew it.

[00:27:46]>> Swallow.

[00:27:47]>> You swallow.

[00:27:48]>> Swallow. Swallow.

[00:27:49]>> You swallow. Swallow. Swallow. Swallow.

[00:27:51]>> I should swallow it.

[00:27:55]>> Oh, no. No. No.

[00:27:55]>> Oh, lick it.

[00:27:56]>> Yes.

[00:27:59]>> So, what do we do now? What do I do with this now? when you you are broke.

[00:28:04]>> So we will use the bean >> to do the fermentation to dry and once it dry is okay >> to to make a chocolate.

[00:28:12]>> So guys I'm about to use fermented cocoa bean seeds to make my own chocolate. So that first thing you guys saw me holding before this is what it looks like. And now I'm going to grind it and make my own actual chocolate.

[00:28:28]So now we have to >> Okay. How do you know which one is the bad one and which one is the good one?

[00:28:34]>> Like this is the bad one.

[00:28:35]>> Okay.

[00:28:37]>> Then this one is the good one.

[00:28:38]>> It's good.

[00:28:42]>> We do this step because we we want to have a good chocolate result.

[00:28:48]>> Okay.

[00:28:51]>> So now we take this >> Mhm. to pound down.

[00:28:57]Oh, I can smell I can start to smell the the chocolate smell now. Is there is there like a machine to do this to?

[00:29:05]>> Yes. Now we have a machine to do this.

[00:29:07]>> But this is the manual way of doing it.

[00:29:09]>> It's very hard.

[00:29:13]>> Okay.

[00:29:14]Now it's okay.

[00:29:15]>> Now it's okay.

[00:29:16]>> It's okay.

[00:29:17]>> Oh wow. See?

[00:29:19]>> Okay. It's okay.

[00:29:20]>> See what I made.

[00:29:27]Oh wow.

[00:29:28]>> See how is my work?

[00:29:30]>> Yes. It's good. Yes. Chocolate.

[00:29:33]Perfecto.

[00:29:34]>> Perfecto.

[00:29:35]>> Seb.

[00:29:40]So the this result is called nips. The nips. Cocoa nips.

[00:29:44]>> Cocoa nips. And >> so it with the nips you will continue to make your chocolate.

[00:30:00]is your need. It is our production. So the for this step you have to blend your needs.

[00:30:06]>> Okay. Blend it. Put it here. Then it comes out as >> Yes. You want to to to do a paste.

[00:30:11]>> Oh, okay.

[00:30:24]When you have a percentage you want to do, if you want to do 60%, you use 60% of chocolate and the rest of the sugar.

[00:30:33]You can put them here in this machine.

[00:30:35]>> Okay. You pour the paste into the machine.

[00:30:37]>> The sugar and the paste in this machine.

[00:30:40]Normally this is it use 24hour to one day. Yes. to make rain during world one day.

[00:30:49]>> Wow.

[00:30:50]>> I want to be really clear with you all.

[00:30:52]This is not easy work. What's is that all the work I did could only make a tiny bar of chocolate which made me realize how labor intensive this whole process is.

[00:31:02]>> So when the different form are done, we put the chocolate on the fries >> on the fridge. Then it gets cold. So now it goes into the fridge.

[00:31:20]How long do I have to wait? How many minutes?

[00:31:23]>> 30 minutes is okay.

[00:31:24]>> 30 minutes. Okay. After going through all of this, I asked my guy a question that has been sitting in my head all this time. If the Ivy Coast has all this cocoa, why are we still importing the finished chocolate all across Africa?

[00:31:37]>> It's a lot of money >> to buy machine. But come here. It's very expensive. That machine >> you said millions and millions in taxis you know custom you know it's very very expensive.

[00:31:48]>> Okay. So you mean that machine we use inside is expensive?

[00:31:50]>> The small one even the small one. Can you imagine the big one?

[00:31:53]>> This single small cocoa grinding machine that you see here cost around $26,000.

[00:31:59]That's more than most local farmers will earn in years. So instead of processing the chocolate into something valuable, they are forced to sell the raw beans for almost nothing. in AI because big companies uh were French you know sweets they even buy the beans here in Aricos and they transform here in AIOS >> and they make some product for us but the majority is going you know into Switzerland France you know we as an we pay >> expenses more money more money can you imagine >> like the the coco your father grew in his farm >> you are paying it like 10 times.

[00:32:38]>> Same thing too with like my country, the oil. We pay more for oil too.

[00:32:43]>> I've known this dynamic my whole life as an African. We produce the raw materials and someone else builds the final product, thereby capturing all the wealth. This isn't just about cocoa.

[00:32:53]It's about the entire structure of Africa's participation in global trade.

[00:32:56]And until that structure changes, no amount of infrastructure investment will fully unlock this continent's value.

[00:33:05]>> Oh, bro.

[00:33:05]>> Ooh. Okay. come with your chocolate.

[00:33:09]>> Your chocolate finally ready? Yes, it's ready now.

[00:33:12]>> Okay. So, view. This is after 30 minutes in the >> Yes.

[00:33:18]Oo.

[00:33:20]>> Wow.

[00:33:24]>> This is the final chocolate.

[00:33:25]>> This is the final chocolate.

[00:33:28]Your tablet.

[00:33:29]>> So, I can eat this one.

[00:33:30]>> Yes, you can. You can you can >> Let me taste it. Let me taste the chocolate that I made and see how it tastes. One.

[00:33:43]>> M.

[00:33:44]>> How do you open it?

[00:33:45]>> It's dark. It's giving me Yes, it's not too sweet.

[00:33:49]>> Yeah, because it's very dark. The cocoa is dark.

[00:33:51]>> But it feels very raw and fresh. I don't know how to explain it. It's so interesting looking at something, taking it from the farm, grinding it, mixing it, then I eventually eating it within just one and a half hour period. This one, this is actually one of the first things I'll make and actually eat it within period of making it. And I'm eating it in Ivikos, the largest exporter and producer of cocoa in the world. In the world. That's amazing.

[00:34:28]So here is the museum of costume is more like a a fashion textile art museum where you can see the story of a course through his art and what people wear.

[00:34:41]>> Have you heard of the zoo? That's the most difficult dance in the world.

[00:34:45]>> The one that >> that was doing >> Oh, was he was he here?

[00:34:54]>> He's here. He's not not in this place, but in here.

[00:34:58]I think he's in the record business. He was able to do 200 steps in less than a minute. He's something else. I saw something else. I'm like something else.

[00:35:08]You move your legs from Legwick. You know >> leg work.

[00:35:11]>> That's the ancestors of Legwick.

[00:35:16]>> So we are in Granbasam. Okay.

[00:35:18]>> Granbasam is the first capital of Ivory Coast and this place especially is the presidential palace. The first presidential palace in Granbasam.

[00:35:25]>> Grand Basam was the first French colonial capital of the Ivory Coast from 1893 to 1896. The French built it right here between the lagoon and the ocean on purpose because they believed that if you control the water, you control the movement. And if you control the movement, you control trade.

[00:35:44]>> In 1905, a warehouse, the first warehouse where they put all the goods coming from uh Europe, you know, by the ships.

[00:35:54]>> This is where it was stored.

[00:35:56]>> This was the first court of Ivory Coast.

[00:35:59]It's also where the first prisoners against colonization were incarcerated.

[00:36:04]>> The first prisoners against so that fought against colonization. This where they Yes.

[00:36:08]>> That means the court also had a prison too.

[00:36:10]>> Yes.

[00:36:10]>> Oh, I see. Wow.

[00:36:12]>> Exactly. So during the colonization firstly when they started it was not like by fighting they came peacefully we want to sign agreement you and me like equally you know they also use like religion religion because Catholicism started here in 1895 but before we had our African religion you know in beginning it's always >> it's always there it's always like as if they're collaborating but at the end of the day >> as I walked around grandan I was surrounded by 130-year-old colonial ruins still crumbling serving as remnants of the past. I watched fisherman hall nets kids playing people just living their lives and it made me think Grand Bisam wasn't just a historical site but a reminder that this country has been tested repeatedly and it still came out on top.

[00:37:13]Hi there. How are you?

[00:37:15]>> I am very very fine.

[00:37:16]>> Very good.

[00:37:17]>> Well, yes. Welcome.

[00:37:19]>> Thank you. Where you from? You're from >> I gasam grandma >> France.

[00:37:25]>> Okay. This place. What's this place known for? This fishing village.

[00:37:29]>> Fishing village.

[00:37:38]I I president of >> president of this place >> big man.

[00:37:45]>> Yes.

[00:37:45]>> You are chairman in Nigeria.

[00:37:48]>> You are Nigerian.

[00:37:49]>> I'm Nigerian.

[00:37:50]>> Okay. You like a >> drink? Alcohol.

[00:37:54]>> Alcohol.

[00:37:54]>> Nigeria alcohol.

[00:37:57]>> Is it? Okay. I think I know the one. Gym gym.

[00:38:00]>> Yeah.

[00:38:02]So guys, lots of people like doing fishing boats. You can see them here.

[00:38:07]They have something similar in Ghana to in Jamestown. It looks very similar.

[00:38:12]I guess many of those influences from Ghana also cross to this side.

[00:38:37]The more time I spent in Abijan, the more I began to see something the Koko story didn't fully capture. Everywhere I went, somebody was building something. A startup, content brand, a restaurant concept, or an art label.

[00:38:52]>> We come Oh, wow.

[00:38:54]>> It's a lot of paintings everywhere.

[00:38:55]Yeah. You painted all of this?

[00:38:57]>> Yes. A lot of piercing.

[00:38:59]>> Oh, wow.

[00:39:16]for the cont.

[00:39:34]>> Okay. What about this bottle?

[00:39:36]>> Ah, collection champagne. My heart is put there.

[00:39:43]>> Oh, okay. This is uh >> Yeah.

[00:39:47]>> Oh >> yeah. Yeah.

[00:39:49]>> So guys, this is this is his art. And then he now has it on the on the champagne. This is like a private collection. Special collection. So this bottle is like how much?

[00:40:00]>> Uh 300 >> 300,000.

[00:40:04]>> No. $300.

[00:40:05]>> $300.

[00:40:06]>> Yeah. $300.

[00:40:07]>> Oh, wow. Are you giving us one for free?

[00:40:09]>> No problem. It's a gift for you.

[00:40:12]>> Yeah. So I give you 1008.

[00:40:16]>> Oh wow.

[00:40:17]>> Or if you want 99 >> 99 Oh wow.

[00:40:33]>> Beautiful man.

[00:40:36]Okay.

[00:40:39]It's for you.

[00:40:40]>> Thank you so much. Mercy.

[00:40:44]>> Guys, I got a bottle from him specially.

[00:40:47]>> Yeah.

[00:40:47]>> I'm not going to open this. Maybe I'll open it when we get to 2 million. 2 million subscribers. Do a million.

[00:40:52]>> One day.

[00:40:53]>> One day. Thank you. Thank you so much, man. I appreciate you.

[00:41:01]>> My name is Yas Pana. I like to eat. Even though you can't you can't see it.

[00:41:06]>> Me, too. That's how I like to eat to introduce myself as a professional eater but more seriously I am a content creator.

[00:41:14]>> I launched the first food blog of the country 14 years ago.

[00:41:17]>> Oh wow.

[00:41:18]>> Uh and so yeah I'm the first food blogger of the country. From food blogger I evolved into content creation and now I'm a culinary entrepreneur and um basically anything under the general mission of shifting the African narrative through food and African cuisines because I believe our cuisines are some of the best.

[00:41:35]>> Yes. What would you say the food scene in Ivory Coast is like and why was it important for you to document that >> as a West African? I'm sure you understand this how we have of course Nigeria has more ethnic backgrounds than we do but like we have 60 plus which of course for you I'm sure it's nothing right but the fact that every ethnic background has its own way of doing things his own stews his own traditional cooking techniques and things like that for me was interest important to represent that because once someone will come to a they'll have what I call the classics alco which is grilled fish or grilled chicken like barbecue type of But aides from that there are stews.

[00:42:15]There are a lot of stews you know leaf stew like in Saleon, like in Guinea. We have palm oil stew, palm nut stew, peanut butter stew, which of course are very familiar to West Africa. But there are things that not a lot of tourists will try to taste. And for me, it was important to document that on a much larger scale and really try to put avarian food out there.

[00:42:45]My name is Stephanie Durand and I am an exs software engineer. So today I'm an entrepreneur, a tech entrepreneur.

[00:42:53]>> I started my tech company in the US actually.

[00:42:58]>> But the ambition has always been to really establish operations here in Africa. So starting in the Ivory Coast which is my country and um what we do is we build software and AI tools to really help companies organize themselves, digitize themselves.

[00:43:16]>> That's dope. That's dope. What would you say was the reason that made you decide to leave US cuz US is like everybody wants to go to the US but you are leaving and coming back to Africa coming to your country. in the US. Although I was doing really well, I still felt like I could do more and I could have a bigger impact. And it's only I feel like within the African ecosystem that I could really show what I've learned, what I've acquired and help because I would come maybe every 2 years for like family visits and I would just see how the potential to do something great kept getting bigger and bigger.

[00:43:53]infrastructure was improving. So the the market was really ripe to create something like Moroi Techch and and then there's also lots of tech companies.

[00:44:03]We're not the only ones, but they're mostly owned by like the French or the Americans. So I wanted to do something that was like locally owned and that hired local talent, too.

[00:44:14]>> That's interesting cuz that leads me to my next question, which is like what are all of the young people in IO? What do they mostly do? Okay. So, social media is big. So, you have a lot of new content creators because they've discovered how to monetize their skills.

[00:44:30]>> When you open Tik Tok is everybody can like they're online for 24 hours selling clothes. You know, you have some tourist guy giving advice. So many stuff, so many businesses have come up with the digital in the AI era. And for me, he has changed the country. He has changed the face of country because unemployment is is hard.

[00:44:53]>> It's high. It's high. So, and people need to find a way of getting money. So, they are doing a lot on the social media social media.

[00:45:03]>> These were young Ivorians who have looked at what's happening globally and decided they wanted to do it on their own terms and in their own country. And honestly, as a Nigerian YouTuber from the same part of West Africa who had spent years dealing with power CS right in the middle of an upload, I felt jealous seeing people here with 24 hours electricity.

[00:45:22]>> Since you don't they don't take light 24 hours here.

[00:45:26]>> No, there is light 24 hours. Even if they took light, they within 5 10 minutes >> they bring it back. So maybe once in 6 months or 3 months.

[00:45:38]>> Okay. So throughout last year now, how many times you feel did they take the light? Did they cut the power?

[00:45:43]>> They never took light >> throughout 2025.

[00:45:48]>> Really?

[00:45:48]>> Yeah.

[00:45:49]>> Not once.

[00:45:50]>> So you talk about easy to set up business.

[00:45:53]>> Yes.

[00:45:53]>> So what you're saying somebody like me now can come here and establish something.

[00:45:57]>> Oh yeah. So I'm talking about the paperwork, the process, you know, everything is online.

[00:46:02]>> Oh, really?

[00:46:03]>> Um and there's no like nationality restrictions. So you don't need to be a Nigerian citizen to operate a business.

[00:46:10]Yeah.

[00:46:11]>> I now got to understand why Abigan is able to position itself as the digital hub of Franophone Africa. The foundation has already been built.

[00:46:29]IO taught me so much. It's a country I never intended to visit during my expedition due to the perceived language barrier. But I'm really glad I did. I came here with a very limited understanding. But what I found was a country that's undergoing rapid development.

[00:46:44]The quality of life in Abij for me is topless. It's ali because I've traveled a lot and I know it's it sounds arrogant but I've seen in different countries where you can afford electricity. You can have 24 hours electricity.

[00:47:02]>> Yeah.

[00:47:02]>> I'm sure you you've been here for some days. Have you experienced light up?

[00:47:06]>> No.

[00:47:06]>> No. You've seen the quality of the road.

[00:47:08]It comes to a price. The quality of those hotels, the buildings come at a price. And I think Abigail needs to be experienced. We have this quality of life that you can compare it to Europe.

[00:47:19]That's that they call us pretty par. But for me, we have the Paris of Africa. You should come and visit so that you understand.

[00:47:26]>> I coast is really changing Africa's story. It might be slowly but it's changing and once it does this won't just be the most important country in West Africa. It will become one of the most important countries in the world.

[00:47:38]>> I would say the majority the demographic that benefits the most are the foreigners. And when I say foreigners, I mean non-Africans.

[00:47:47]>> So I would love to see more Africans actually coming investing and and helping and contributing. Like I want that. So yeah, we're open for business guys. Find a pred.

[00:47:59]The sweetest in the world. You guys should should come to Kiwa. You will never regret it. And please, when you come, look for me.

[00:48:10]>> I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I enjoyed creating it. If you did, make sure to hit the like button, subscribe, and turn on notifications. I'll see you guys on the next one. Peace.