The road of counterfeit fabric has just crossed paths with the gendarmerie. In Côte d’Ivoire, a cargo of textiles suspected of being counterfeit, with an estimated value of 272.4 million CFA francs, was intercepted in an operation led by the National Anti-Counterfeiting Committee (CNLC) together with the national gendarmerie, under the supervision of the public prosecutor. The case was made public at the start of this week.
It all happened on Tuesday 3 November 2026. That day, CNLC teams stopped a ten-wheel truck registered in Togo. Having set off from that country, the vehicle crossed Ghana before entering Ivorian territory through the Noé border post in the south-east. When the trailer was opened, in the presence of the transporter, officers found 227 bales of wax print fabric, each holding around 600 yards of cloth.
Subsequent checks confirmed the suspicions. According to the CNLC, the patterns printed on the fabric allegedly copied, without authorisation, protected designs owned by a textile operator based in Côte d’Ivoire, whose name has not been disclosed. The figure of 272.4 million CFA francs is the estimated market value of the goods. It is neither a fine nor an amount claimed from those involved, whose identities and legal situation have not been specified so far.
The scenario feels familiar. Last March, the CNLC and the gendarmerie stopped another vehicle coming from Togo and heading for Adjamé market in Abidjan. On board were 275 bales of counterfeit fabric valued at more than 137 million CFA francs. Same method, same origin, but a value almost half that of the November seizure.
For the committee headed by Geneviève Diakité, 2026 is shaping up to be a busy year. According to a CNLC note, the combined value of goods seized since January now exceeds 1.7 billion CFA francs across all categories. In mid-October, counterfeit fabric worth 300 million CFA francs was incinerated in the presence of a deputy prosecutor and representatives of the affected company. Over a longer period, the committee estimates that counterfeit goods worth around 20 billion CFA francs have been seized in the country since 2015.
Behind these figures lies the future of an entire industry. Wax print fabric, a staple of West African clothing, supports factories, designers and thousands of traders. Every bale of cheap copies sold in the markets eats into the share of manufacturers who invest in creating original designs, and threatens the jobs that come with them. The CNLC says it will keep up its checks alongside the security forces, customs and the judiciary, particularly on the border routes these cargoes travel through.