• GI-TOC report links cattle theft to insecurity across key illicit hubs

• Extremist groups use stolen livestock to fund operations in multiple countries

• Report urges stronger market regulation and regional cooperation

Cattle theft plays a major role in insecurity and instability in West Africa and parts of Central Africa, alongside illicit arms and gold trafficking and kidnappings.

This is highlighted in a report published in October by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC).

According to the document, this issue affects nearly one quarter of all illicit hubs in the region and is common in two thirds of the 23 hubs that contribute most to instability.

The authors note that cattle theft is a tool used by several violent extremist organizations, including Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), to finance their activities through sales in the tri-border area between Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire.

“[…] thousands of livestock heads, stolen in conflict hotspots in central Mali or northern Burkina Faso, are transported through this area to be sold at markets in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana by intermediaries. This system enables JNIM to tap into major cattle markets in these coastal states,” the report states.

Like JNIM, Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), a faction of Boko Haram, also benefits from cattle laundering, which provides a stable source of income.

“Maiduguri, the largest city in north-eastern Nigeria, hosts a major regional livestock market visited by traders from Cameroon, Chad and Niger and at which cattle stolen by JAS members are sold through intermediaries,” the authors explain.

Beyond extremist groups, the report notes that cattle looting is also carried out by several state-affiliated groups in the Sahel.

“In Burkina Faso, especially in the south-western regions, the VDP has become a central perpetrator of rustling since 2024. Its growing presence in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, in the Bounkani region, extends beyond livestock theft and includes coercion and broader destabilizing activities, which raises concerns about spillover violence and the increasing autonomy of these actors,” the analysts write.

Given the rise in cattle theft and the central role of the pastoral economy in sustaining conflicts across the Sahel and coastal West African states, the report urges policymakers to act.

The authors recommend that authorities avoid shutting down livestock markets even when links to armed group financing are identified. They advise strengthening regulation to reduce the risk of stolen cattle being sold in these markets. They add that building official livestock markets in rural areas can draw more transactions into the formal sector and improve oversight. They also stress that cooperation among states, pastoral economy actors, and local communities is essential to regulate the livestock sector and break its ties to conflict.

Livestock contributes 10 to 15 % of GDP in Sahel countries, and more than 80 million people depend on pastoralism in West Africa.