Disrupting the destabilising impacts of organized crime in West Africa.




Recognizing the importance of illicit economies within West Africa’s conflict ecosystem, the GI-TOC launched the illicit hub mapping project in 2022. The initial phase identified 280 hubs of illicit economies across 18 focus countries. A quantitative metric, the Illicit Economies and Instability Monitor (‘Monitor’), was then applied to analyze the extent to which the illicit economies in each hub fuelled instability. This assessment was based on 30 indicators, drawing on expert analysis and existing data.

Three years on, the second iteration of the illicit hub mapping project is in the final stages of development. Building on important additions to the Monitor and an extensive existing evidence base, the 2025 edition will capture the most recent trends relating to illicit economies and instability across West Africa.

The updated illicit hub mapping allows for analysis of illicit economy engagement by actor type, as well as a spatial analysis of illicit hubs. It also considers the hubs' instability typologies and their roles within regional illicit ecosystems. As such, it will continue to be an invaluable tool for decision-making, resource allocation and regional analysis.


Investigating conflict and crime.







Location: West Africa

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