[1] By the end of the 1880s, France had established what passed for effective control over the coastal regions of Ivory Coast, and in 1889 the United Kingdom recognized French sovereignty in the area.

After the Liberation of Paris and the end of World War II, Ivory Coast became part of the French Union in 1946.

In 2002, the First Ivorian Civil War began mainly as a result of economic, ethnic and religious tension between the northern and southern parts of the country.

[6] In November 2004, an armed conflict took place when Ivorian government jets attacked French peacekeepers in the northern part of the country where they were stationed there as part of Opération Licorne, the French military operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI).

[6] These incidents were followed by massive anti-French protests in Ivory Coast and led to mobs attacking European nationals in the country.

In April 2011, French forces arrested Laurent Gbagbo at his residence in Abidjan thus ending the civil war.

[9] In December 2024, Alassane Ouattara announced that the French military base in Abidjan would be handed over to Côte d'Ivoire in January 2025.

More than 90% of the French investment stock is directed towards the following branches of activity: finance, hydrocarbons, electricity and water, construction, industry, agro-industry, transport, hotels, distribution, telecommunications and audiovisual.