The Ashanti of Cote d’Ivoire

The Ashanti of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 450,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Akan, one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, indigenous to the present-day countries of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Akan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Ashanti

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Guinean
Primary Language(s): Akan (aka)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 450,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013038
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ashanti 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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Akan
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Akan Speakers

Media Resources in Akan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Akan:

Or check out the Akan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ashanti 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 Ashanti:
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 Ashanti of Cote d’Ivoire

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
readLuke 13:3

Pray that the lost will repent and believe the gospel, for without it, they will perish.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Akan Across Countries (ROP3 - 100179) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AshantiAshantiUnited Kingdom28,000Unengaged and UnreachedAkanProtestantism
AshantiAshantiTogo96,000Engaged yet UnreachedAkanAfrican Traditional Religion
AshantiAshantiLiberia64,000No Longer UnreachedAkanRoman Catholicism
AshantiAshantiGhana5,555,000No Longer UnreachedAkanEthnoreligion
AshantiAshantiCote d’Ivoire450,000Engaged yet UnreachedAkanProtestantism
AkanAkanCanada27,000No Longer UnreachedAkanEthnoreligion

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.

Scroll to Top