Salsa is definitely popular.
On the radio you will also a few times a day hear a salsa tune with Spanish lyrics. But don't expect to hear the same songs as in the salsotheques in Europe. Victor Manuelle, Marc Anthony, India and other bestsellers from USA are not known here. You will might hear a song of Tito Rojas or El Canario. In the capital Abidjan there are two or three places where they occasionally plays only Afro-Cuban music.