By George M.O. Williams
West Africa has become a major logistics and redistribution hub in the global cocaine trade, according to a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime in its Global Organized Crime Index 2025. The report warns that the scale of trafficking and its impacts on governance, public health, and security are rapidly intensifying across the region.
Fastest-Growing Criminal Market
Between 2019 and 2025, cocaine trafficking has emerged as the fastest-growing criminal market in West Africa. Multi-tonne consignments are reportedly being warehoused across several countries, while powerful international organized crime groups continue to expand their operations.
The findings echo earlier concerns raised by the West Africa Commission on Drugs in 2014, which cautioned that punitive drug policies had failed to reduce consumption or dismantle trafficking networks, and warned against the region becoming a new frontline in the global war on drugs.
Shifting Global Routes
Experts note that despite a temporary decline in drug seizures between 2013 and 2018, cocaine flows through West Africa persisted. Since 2019, trafficking has surged again, driven by rising global supply and demand.
Cocaine production in Latin America has steadily increased since 2017, reaching record levels in 2020 and continuing to grow. Meanwhile, demand in Western Europe — one of the world’s most lucrative cocaine markets — has risen sharply. In response to intensified law-enforcement efforts along direct routes between Latin America and Europe, traffickers have increasingly turned to West Africa as an alternative corridor for storage and redistribution.
Local Impact
As trafficking expands, retail prices for cocaine in several West African cities have declined, with users reporting greater availability. While most of the drug continues onward to Europe, a portion is consumed locally, often in the form of powder or crack cocaine. Analysts estimate that by 2025, nearly 30 percent of cocaine reaching Europe may have passed through West Africa.
Governance and Public Health Risks
The report warns that the growing drug trade is fueling corruption, weakening state institutions, and straining already limited public health systems. Rising cocaine use in urban centres has heightened concerns about addiction and the region’s capacity to provide treatment.
Experts stress that the full scale of the trade remains difficult to measure due to persistent gaps in data and intelligence. Without stronger regional cooperation, improved research, and coordinated responses, they caution, the expanding cocaine economy could pose an even greater threat to development, governance, and security across West Africa.