Communities have been forming in Côte D’Ivoire in recent years and have been slowly growing throughout the region. The capitol city of Abidjan has two synagogues, each with a population of about 40-70 congregants. In addition, large groups of indigenous peoples referred to as Danites claim descent from the lost tribe of Dan and many from this ethnic group have shown interest in Judaic practices.

The African nation of Côte D’Ivoire is not a historic Jewish community. But now, the West African country, is seeing several dozens of its citizens choose to join the Jewish ranks.

The movement stemmed from a group of middle class residents who not only took to the Kabbalah as a way of improving their lives, but also grew close to Judaism. They began to study Hebrew, learn how to pray and celebrate Jewish holidays.

Avraham Yago, the community leader and a linguistics professor at the University of Abidjan in the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire, has visited Israel four times to learn about Judaism and practice his Hebrew. Like most members of his community, Yago believes he has Jewish roots. In 2018, after 20 years of studying Judaism, Yago converted to Judaism along with 47 others, most of whom are members of the community he leads. After the conversions, rabbis performed Jewish weddings for six couples.

Members follow Sephardic Orthodox customs and eat a pescatarian diet since they do not have access to kosher meat. They dress very modestly. The community observes all the Jewish holidays and performs the required rituals. The Torah scroll, which was bought from Israel in 2009, is brought out three times a week. The synagogue contains a library with the commentaries on the Torah for members to study.