The Nzema of Cote d’Ivoire

The Nzema of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 138,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Akan people whose language preserves an earlier form of Akan speech, spanning both southwestern Ghana and southeastern Ivory Coast as one people, organized through matrilineal descent for inheritance and political succession. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Nzima is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nzema

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Guinean
Primary Language(s): Nzima (nzi)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 138,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013122
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Nzema of Cote d’Ivoire

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nzima
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nzema Speakers

Media Resources in Nzima:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Nzima:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1999 Bible Society of Ghana✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Nzima bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Nzema are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Nzema:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Nzema of Cote d’Ivoire

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that those who are deceived about what brings peace will not settle for any lies they’ve heard about God and will diligently seek Him and be satisfied when they learn the truth about who He is and what He’s done.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that the gospel will advance and many will acknowledge that all have sinned, fall short of God's glory, and need a Savior to reconcile them to God.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
readRomans 5:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of glory and be in awe of God's mercy that gives them access to Him through faith.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

Nzema Across Countries (ROP3 - 100420) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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