<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Pseudomonas</jats:italic> isolates from tropical environments have been underexplored and may form an untapped reservoir of interesting secondary metabolites. In this study, we compared <jats:italic>Pseudomonas</jats:italic> and cyclic lipopeptide (CLP) diversity in the rhizosphere of a cocoyam root rot disease (CRRD) suppressive soil in Boteva, Cameroon with those from four conducive soils in Cameroon and Nigeria. Compared with other soils, Boteva andosols were characterized by high silt, organic matter, nitrogen and calcium. Besides, the cocoyam rhizosphere at Boteva was characterized by strains belonging mainly to the <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>koreensis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>putida</jats:italic> (sub)groups, with representations in the <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>fluorescens</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>chlororaphis</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>jessenii</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>asplenii</jats:italic> (sub)groups. In contrast, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>putida</jats:italic> isolates were prominent in conducive soils. Regarding CLP diversity, Boteva was characterized by strains producing 11 different CLP types with cocoyamide A producers, belonging to the <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>. <jats:italic>koreensis</jats:italic> group, being the most abundant. However, putisolvin III‐V producers were the most dominant in the rhizosphere of conducive soils in both Cameroon and Nigeria. Furthermore, we elucidated the chemical structure of putisolvin derivatives—putisolvin III‐V, and described its biosynthetic gene cluster. We show that high <jats:italic>Pseudomonas</jats:italic> and metabolic diversity may be driven by microbial competition, which likely contributes to soil suppressiveness to CRRD.