In the war-torn Sahel, armed groups including an al-Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), its opponent, Islamic State Sahel Province (IS Sahel) and state-backed militia do not just need oil or gold to sustain their operations, but also need livestock, a recent study has shown.
The study revealed how cattle rustling by jihadist groups, bandits and state-backed militias has become a central component of the war economy in the Sahel, extending deep into coastal West Africa, and benefiting not only the perpetrators but also key players such as younger herders, butchers, traders and transporters.
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The study, published in July 2025 by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) in partnership with Equal Access International/ ResilienceForPeace (EAI/R4P) and Acting for Life (AFL), documents how armed groups operating across the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have systematised livestock theft as a means of financing operations, asserting territorial control and weakening local resilience.
Junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have been faced by violent attacks by JNIM and its Islamic State-aligned opponent. While these Sahelian states remain the cattle rustling fronts, some coastal West African countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire serve as a laundering hub. However, some parts of Côte d’Ivoire have also witnessed violent raids and cattle rustling by these groups.
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The study reveals that between 2022 and 2024, about 3,000 cattle were either rustled or forcefully taken as a form of tax from herders or cattle owners.
This war economy, championed by JNIM, has resulted in about 3,000 cattle theft in Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.
Between 2022 and 2024, over 2,000 cattle were stolen in Burkina Faso’s Sud-Ouest region alone, while Côte d’Ivoire’s Bounkani region recorded 25 incidents in 2024, involving approximately 640 stolen cattle—a doubling of incidents from previous years.
In Ghana’s Upper West region, security sources say recent thefts now involve hundreds of cattle at a time, a scale considered beyond the capacity of petty thieves.
“Cattle rustling remains one of the most resilient and lucrative sources of financing for armed groups operating in the region,” the report states, explaining that the activity is no longer just an opportunistic crime but part of an entrenched transnational economy.
Apart from JNIM, other key perpetrators are Burkina Faso’s Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP) and a network of criminal bandits and traders operating across porous borders. In regions under its control, JNIM imposes zakat (tax) on livestock owners, collecting hundreds of cattle annually as part of its governance model. Where its control is weaker, the group turns to outright lootings, sometimes seizing entire herds to intimidate or punish communities.
This is the playbook of many terrorist groups operating in West Africa. PREMIUM TIMES reports that in Nigeria, the style is also common with Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), the Mahmuda terror group in Kwara State, and other bandit groups such as that of Dogo Gide and Bello Turji.
In one case cited by Flore Berger, the author of the report, a marabout in Djigouè, Burkina Faso, lost 400 cattle in a single night. The group accused him of corruption and seized his herd as punishment.
“One evening, the terrorists took 400 heads of cattle from me on the pretext that I make gris-gris for people [cast spells] and that I’m not honest, I’m corrupt and therefore I deserve to die and since I have to be killed, my property is rightfully theirs,” the marabout was quoted in the report.
However, state responses across the tri-border area have often been contradictory.
In Burkina Faso, the government has backed the VDP militia, now widely accused of human rights abuses and cattle looting. Since 2022, Ivorian military crackdowns have targeted jihadist infiltration in Bounkani, forcing JNIM to shift operations toward Ghana, where enforcement is weaker.
In Ghana, while there are no recorded jihadist attacks, authorities have done little to address cattle laundering, possibly as part of a strategy to avoid provoking violence.
From resistance to complicity
The report highlights growing evidence of state-affiliated militias becoming primary perpetrators of cattle rustling. Since 2024, the VDP has eclipsed JNIM as the dominant rustling actor in parts of Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire.
Testimonies from affected communities in Bounkani describe cases where VDP forces carried out cross-border raids, abducted village chiefs, and looted livestock—targeting areas suspected of harbouring sympathies for jihadists.
Elements of Burkina Faso’s formal army, particularly the Rapid Intervention Battalions or bataillons d’intervention rapide (BIR), were also named in the report as being involved in cattle theft. In just the first three months of 2024, these units reportedly rustled up to 500 cattle, according to compiled testimonies.
“Some elements of the VDP and the BIR have been denounced, re-assigned elsewhere or charged, but legal due process remains rare,” the author noted.
Black markets and big profits
Once stolen, cattle are funnelled through laundering networks that span all three countries— Burkina Faso, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
The cattle are laundered through regional markets, then moved to southern cities like Accra, Kumasi, and Abidjan where demand for meat is high.
To facilitate the laundering, actors rely on both cash and digital money flows, including mobile money and Hawala-style informal banking.
The proceeds from rustled cattle are not limited to fighters. The report details an intricate chain of beneficiaries, from local scouts or young herders to regional transporters and traders.
Armed groups earn about €275 per ox, below €360 that an agent linked to them makes after selling the ox in regional markets. According to the report, traders resell cattle for up to €465 per head, often at Ghana’s informal markets.
While transporters charge between €686 to €762 per truckload of 50 cattle, young herders acting as scouts earn between about €15 per animal.
“JNIM does offer extra incentives to retain their [young herders] loyalty, typically a motorcycle or some of the stolen animals so the young herders can start their own herds,” the report notes. “For many young herders, this is their only viable chance to become cattle traders themselves over time.”
A March 2024 raid by Burkinabe forces revealed the scale of the economy: 140 stolen cattle, 1.5 kilograms of gold, and CFA4 million (€6,098) in cash were recovered from jihadist bases in Djigouè and Loropéni..
“During the operation, we killed Abou Housseini al-Foulani, head of the Djigoué base, and Moktar, head of the Loropéni base,” a security source told the author of the report. “We arrested 20 terrorists in Djigoué and seven in Loropéni.”
The social impact of this criminal and bloody enterprise has been devastating. The herders’ association in Sud-Ouest estimates that 70 per cent of livestock in the region has been lost due to theft and displacement.
Many pastoralists have abandoned rural areas, selling off remaining animals and fleeing to cities or neighbouring countries. PREMIUM TIMES understands that this displacement or migration has also led to other criminal activities in border countries such as Nigeria
The collapse of the livestock economy has also led to youth recruitment into armed groups, as disillusioned herders seek protection or profit.
READ ALSO: How a Boko Haram faction entrenched itself near Nigeria’s capital
A call for regional action
“Cattle rustling in the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire significantly contributes to regional instability,” the author noted, calling for cross-border security initiatives and collaboration, improved livestock market transparency and regulation, among others.
In conflict zones where closure of cattle markets has been used as a control mechanism, the author recommended that states should rather strengthen their regulations.
“These markets not only generate employment and revenue, but limit the sale of animals in black markets and foster community interaction,” noted the author.
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