France returns historic Djidji Ayôkwé drum to Côte d’Ivoire.

France has returned a historic ceremonial drum, known as the Djidji Ayôkwé ('Panther-Lion'), to Côte d’Ivoire. The drum had been held in the collection of the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris since 2006, and has been returned to its home country as the fulfilment of a commitment made by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.

The Djidji Ayôkwé is a 3.3 m long, 430 kg slit drum with a Lion or Panther figurine at one end, carved from a single piece of iroko wood. It originally belonged to the Achan (or Tchaman) people who live around modern Abidjan, who used it for communicating over long distances (the large size of the drum meant that it could be heard over a distance of about 20 km).

The Djidji Ayôkwé drum with representatives of the Achan people and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire during a ceremony at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac on 23 February 2026. Lisa Villy/RFI.

The ability of the Achan people to communicate over long distances was deemed a threat by the French colonial administration in Côte d’Ivoire, leading to it being seized during a punitive expedition by the French Army in 2016. Following this, it sat in the official residence of the French governor of Côte d’Ivoire in Abidjan until 1929, when it was sent to France and placed in the collection of the Trocadéro Museum (now the Musée de l’Homme). It was moved to the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in 2006.

Following a ceremony at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac on 23 February, the drum was flown to Abidjan on 13 March, where it was formerly handed over in a second ceremony at Félix-Houphouët-Boigny Airport. The drum will remain inside a packing crate until April 2026, in order to allow it to acclimatise to the local climate (sudden changes in temperature and humidity can cause old wooden objects to crack and split). It will then be placed on display in the new Musée des Civilisations de Côte d’Ivoire, as part of an exhibition funded via a US$100 000 donation from UNESCO.

A ceremony in Abidjan on 13 March 2026 to welcome the Djidji Ayôkwé back to Côte d’Ivoire. Issouf Sanago.

The Djidji Ayôkwé is the first artefact to have been returned to Côte d’Ivoire by France, one of 148 objects the African nation has requested. Despite pledges by French politicians, France has to date only returned 27 objects to its former African colonies, mostly to Senegal and Benin.

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