The Niaboua of Cote d’Ivoire

The Niaboua of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 88,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Kru people of west-central Ivory Coast around Daloa and Soubre, whose oral tradition recounts their arrival from Liberia in the 15th century fleeing war, speaking a language within the broader Wee dialect continuum. They mostly adhere to Animism and Nyabwa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Kru
Primary Language(s): Nyabwa (nwb)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 88,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013118
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Niaboua 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyabwa
Language Family: Kru

100%
%
Nyabwa Speakers

Media Resources in Nyabwa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Nyabwa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1991 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc.✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Nyabwa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Niaboua 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 Niaboua:
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 Niaboua of Cote d’Ivoire

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
readHebrews 10:38

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will live by faith and not shrink back from their hope in Christ.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Nyabwa-Nyedebwa Across Countries (ROP3 - 107527) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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