Working remotely from Abidjan: the reality, the perks and the backup plan

My most reliable colleague is called "power bank". She has never missed a meeting.

I've worked remotely for several years, from Abidjan, for teams in Europe and West Africa. I love working this way. That doesn't make it a postcard. Here's what it's really like.

The realities

• Power and connection. Outages happen, often at the wrong moment. Abidjan's June rain has remarkable timing: it usually starts five minutes before a client call. My backup plan: a power bank, a small UPS for the router, two mobile networks for tethering, and files synced to the cloud.
• Heavy files. Downloading gigabytes of video footage takes planning. I fetch assets the day before, work locally and send exports when the connection is steady.
• Payments. Getting paid from abroad can be slow or expensive depending on the service. Clear quotes, written terms and invoices sent on time prevent a lot of misunderstandings.
• Solitude. No coffee breaks with colleagues. You have to build your own rituals: a coworking space now and then, creative communities, lunches with other freelancers.
• Trust. Some clients wonder whether "remote from Africa" means "reliable". The answer comes down to three things: communication, deadlines, consistency.

The perks

• The time zone. Abidjan is on GMT all year round. With Europe, the gap is one or two hours, so we work almost in sync.
• International clients without moving. I can contribute to campaigns for international brands while staying close to my family and my culture.
• An insider's view. When a brand speaks to Francophone Africa or its diaspora, knowing the ground is a real asset. I know what a family Sunday in Yopougon looks like. A moodboard doesn't.
• Flexibility. Planning my days around when I focus best rather than around traffic jams is a luxury I wouldn't give up.

My tools

Slack and ClickUp to track projects, Google Workspace for documents, the cloud for files and a good headset for video calls. Nothing exotic: what matters is the discipline of documenting everything so the team always knows where the work stands.

In short

Working remotely from Africa takes a little more preparation. In return, it offers rare freedom and access to the whole world from your desk. And when the connection drops, there's always the power bank.