Translation and interpreting services in Abidjan

Our English-language service is designed mainly for foreign companies, NGOs and delegations working in Abidjan. Local paperwork is in French: registration certificates, tax notices, letters from ministries, employment contracts. Your head office, donor or board usually needs it in English.

The opposite happens too. Documents written in English need to be read by an Ivorian partner, a lawyer or an administration in French. We handle both directions, from a single letter to a full set of company documents.

For companies and organisations, we translate contracts, articles of association, tender documents and reports. You will find the details on our page about business document translation. We also translate bills of lading and other shipping documents.

For your staff, we translate personal documents such as birth certificates, criminal record extracts, driving licences, certificates and academic transcripts.

For meetings, negotiations, audits and site visits, we provide English-French interpreters in Abidjan. See the page on our interpreter in Abidjan service.

It depends entirely on who will receive the document. A plain translation is often enough for internal use or for a business partner. A certified translation comes with a signed statement that it matches the original, and you receive a paper original. A sworn translation is signed and stamped by a translator-interpreter approved by the Abidjan Court of Appeal (traducteur-interprète agréé près la Cour d'appel d'Abidjan). It is available on request, from 18,000 FCFA (about €27) a page.

Bear in mind that "certified" does not mean the same thing everywhere. For Canadian immigration (IRCC), for instance, documents already in English or French do not need translating at all. For other languages, IRCC asks for a certified translator who belongs to a provincial or territorial body when the translation is done in Canada, a translator accredited (officially recognised or authorised) in the country where the translation is done when it is done abroad, or otherwise an affidavit. The decision on the file always rests with IRCC. We check what the receiving organisation publishes before you pay for anything.

If an Ivorian document is going abroad, note that Côte d'Ivoire is not a party to the Apostille Convention. Documents go through legalisation instead: first the Ivorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the embassy or consulate of the destination country, depending on the case.