The objective of this paper is to critique rural land law and forest law in Côte d’Ivoire from an Africa-wide perspective. The paper starts with an overview of customary land tenure across Africa, and different countries’ approaches to achieving legal protection. It then considers the Ivorian context, looking at the historical conditions influencing modern rural land law; the current legal framework governing tenure; and gaps in the legal framework as well as possible remedies. The paper finishes with a discussion of the implications of Côte d’Ivoire’s new Forest Code for rural tenure, identifying areas that are unclear or potentially inconsistent, and offering suggestions for how these could be resolved.