Côte d’Ivoire opens new GIABA regional centre in Abidjan to strengthen fight against financial crime

Côte d’Ivoire has opened a new regional information centre of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), strengthening the region’s capacity to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other forms of financial crime.

Economy, Finance and Budget Minister Adama Coulibaly presided over the official opening and handover of the facility in Abidjan on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

The modern centre is designed to support GIABA’s activities in French- and Portuguese-speaking West African countries and strengthen coordination among national authorities involved in combating illicit financial flows.

The facility will serve as a platform for information sharing, training, awareness-raising and regional cooperation as financial crimes become increasingly sophisticated.

GIABA, a specialized institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), works with member states to strengthen systems for preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The new Abidjan centre forms part of a broader regional architecture established by ECOWAS to improve cooperation against financial crime. The creation of information centres in Abidjan and Lagos was decided in 2010, with Abidjan designated to serve French- and Portuguese-speaking countries and Lagos the English-speaking countries.

Côte d’Ivoire and GIABA subsequently signed a headquarters agreement in 2014, paving the way for the development of the Abidjan facility.

For Côte d’Ivoire, the opening comes as authorities seek to strengthen the country’s financial security and improve cooperation against illicit financial flows.

Money laundering and terrorist financing remain major challenges across West Africa, where financial crime can intersect with organized crime, corruption, drug trafficking and terrorist networks.

The centre is expected to facilitate closer cooperation between governments, financial intelligence units, law-enforcement agencies and other institutions responsible for tracking suspicious financial transactions.

It will also contribute to strengthening the capacity of professionals and institutions responsible for implementing anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing measures.

The opening of the facility gives Abidjan a greater role in GIABA’s regional operations and reinforces Côte d’Ivoire’s position as a hub for financial and institutional cooperation in West Africa.

The initiative comes at a time when regional authorities are under increasing pressure to improve financial transparency, strengthen enforcement and prevent illicit funds from entering the formal economy.

For GIABA and its member states, the new centre is expected to become an important platform for coordinating the regional response to increasingly complex financial threats.