The Palaka Senufo of Cote d’Ivoire

The Palaka Senufo of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 17,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Senufo people of Cote d'Ivoire who separated from the main Senufo stock before the 1300s, remaining in place as the founding of the Bambara trade town of Kong sent related Senufo groups migrating outward, later colonized by the French and Mandingo. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Palaka Senoufo is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Senufo, Palaka

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Palaka Senoufo (plr)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 17,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013124
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Palaka Senufo 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: Palaka Senoufo
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Sénoufo, Palaka Speakers

Media Resources in Palaka Senoufo:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Palaka Senoufo:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Palaka Senoufo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Palaka Senufo 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 Palaka Senufo:
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 Palaka Senufo of Cote d’Ivoire

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
readMatthew 6:16

Pray that those who live to please men and not God will turn from the emptiness of seeking approval from others and find true satisfaction in the treasure of a personal relationship with God.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
readGalatians 3:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be united in Christ across all differences of ethnicity, social status, and gender.

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.

Senufo, Palaka Across Countries (ROP3 - 107773) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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