Abidjan, a transformed city and a showcase for Ouattara

"We Ivorians never imagined we could have bridges, interchanges, and major roads like this!", exclaims Moustapha, a tour guide, during a long guided tour for AFP around the Ivorian economic capital.

Moustapha makes no secret of it, he will vote for "ADO" in Saturday's presidential election, precisely because the president has been able to successfully carry out this "metamorphosis" of the largest megacity in Francophone West Africa, with seven million inhabitants, almost twice as many as in 2000.

The "metamorphosis" consists first of all of three imposing new bridges that span the waters of the Ebrié lagoon and a series of road interchanges.

"China Mall"

The most famous of these structures, the cable-stayed bridge inaugurated in August 2023, connects the wealthy Cocody district to the Plateau, the historic business center. It has become the city's postcard image, in addition to being a "magnificent attraction for tourists and families on holidays," smiles Moustapha.

In the background now rises the "F Tower", a futuristic skyscraper in the shape of an African mask that will reach over 400 meters, whose workers are finishing installing the one-way glass.

As a corollary to economic growth – averaging over 6% since 2012 – and a sign of the rise of a middle class, shopping malls are popping up all over the city. Eleven hypermarkets and 59 supermarkets have opened in the last 14 years, according to the government, including "China Malls" and "China Fairs," illustrating the growing Chinese presence.

The car fleet has also changed: "Here you find luxury cars that you don't even see in Europe," jokes Moustapha, at the wheel of his Suzuki "yogurt pot".

These small Japanese city cars now make up a large part of the car fleet, since a law regulating imports has consigned to oblivion the "France au revoir", those old used cars from Europe.

The city now extends uninterrupted much further east, as far as Bingerville, the first capital of the French colony.

Taking the Y4, a ring road currently under construction, makes you realize "how much the city has eaten up the bush," our driver Moustapha points out.

It notably passes near the large Ebimpé stadium (60.000 seats), built for the 2024 AFCON, a successful competition which served as a catalyst for the transformation of the economic capital.

In its report for the presidential election, the government reported the completion of "277 km of roads", "413 km of roads" and "twenty structures" in the Abidjan district between 2011 and 2025.

"Pinky Club"

While this assessment is generally agreed upon, many lament the cost of living they associate with this development: "We can't eat tar," is a common refrain. "Everything has become very expensive," acknowledges Moustapha.

The monthly rent for a studio apartment in Abidjan can quickly reach the level of the minimum wage, slightly above 100 euros.

Several opposition figures denounce unequally distributed economic growth, or infrastructure with limited social benefits, far removed from the issues of reconciliation and the fight against poverty.

Behind these achievements, "social inequalities have persisted. Youth unemployment remains high, and the benefits of growth have not always reached the most vulnerable segments of society," the local press points out.

And in the working-class neighborhoods, the most populated, a large part of Abidjan still lives in precarious conditions, with their feet in the dust and under shacks of corrugated iron, far from the lavish villas of "Beverly Hills" of Cocody occupied by ministers and football stars.

To the west, the immense and popular Yopougon, the festive soul of Abidjan, former stronghold of the "patriots" of the ousted president Laurent Gbagbo, continues to swarm like an anthill but seems today almost tidy.

The once-famous "Rue Princesse," a hub of "coupé-décalé," "zougloumania," and prostitution, is now but a shadow of its former self. Bakeries, ordinary shops, and hardware stores selling cheap junk have replaced the "maquis" (restaurants) and nightclubs, razed by the municipality, of which only a few unfortunate survivors with tired facades remain, such as the "Full Options" or the "Pinky Club."

"Social unease"

In the south of Abidjan, the expatriate and Lebanese neighborhoods of Marcory/Zone4 are overwhelmed by brand new buildings, a pale copy of Dubai in the form of "Luxury apartments".

Construction equipment and workers are busy building Abidjan's future "metro," an urban train whose tracks are already laid. Initially promised for the end of 2025, this single line will cross the metropolitan area from north to south, with 18 stations, and is expected to carry 530.000 passengers daily.

The metro, the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, and the stated desire to put an end to "unhealthy" areas and "urban disorder" have justified the implementation of a policy of "eviction" - forced evictions - the brutality of which has sometimes been decried, and which has affected at least 20.000 households, only some of which have been rehoused or compensated.

"In 2011, President Ouattara took over this country in a totally dilapidated state (...)," former Prime Minister Patrick Achi stressed on national television Saturday evening, highlighting the ambition maintained for the next five years "to strengthen the infrastructure".

"These are significant advances, a major effort has been made," commented independent MP Antoine Assalé, whose presidential candidacy failed due to a lack of endorsements, to AFP. "But this doesn't solve the problems of the population (...) In reality, the infrastructure masks the social unrest."

"What kind of society have we built over the past fifteen years, what is the distribution of wealth today? There are very great frustrations in this country," the parliamentarian warns.