Côte d'Ivoire has inaugurated a Cisco cybersecurity centre in Abidjan, creating a regional hub to strengthen cyber defences and digital skills across West and Central Africa.

The Cisco Cybersecurity Center at Cybastion was inaugurated on Thursday, 5 November, by the country's digital-transition minister, Djibril Ouattara, according to the Agence Ivoirienne de Presse. The centre, in the Biétry district of Abidjan, is managed and operated by the US technology company Cybastion in partnership with Cisco and the Ivorian government's Ministry of Women, Family and Children.

Monitoring, response and training in one place

The facility houses a security operations centre to monitor digital systems for potential threats, and a security incident response team to investigate and respond to cyberattacks. It also provides technology demonstrations and professional training, serving as a regional centre for cybersecurity training and workforce development as well as supporting the Ivorian government's own cybersecurity readiness and the protection of critical infrastructure.

The centre builds on a memorandum of understanding signed in October 2025 between Cybastion, the ministry and Cisco, which aims to make cybersecurity certification training a driver of workforce development and economic growth. The same ceremony also saw the opening of the American Digital Tower, a technology and innovation demonstration space.

Training 200,000 learners by 2030

The project sits within the Africa DigiEmpower programme, which aims to train 200,000 learners in Côte d'Ivoire by 2030 in networking, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The goal is to build a local workforce able to defend the country's growing digital economy rather than relying on expertise from abroad.

The launch comes as Côte d'Ivoire steps up investment in its digital infrastructure. The Export-Import Bank of the United States has approved more than $100 million in financing guarantees for digitalisation in the country, including a $66 million guarantee to support the construction of a national data centre, with Cybastion supplying equipment in cooperation with Cisco and other partners, and a $47 million transaction to digitalise the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The opening ceremony was expected to bring together senior Ivorian officials, US diplomats and technology industry leaders, including Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, Cybastion chief executive Thierry Wandji and Cisco executive vice-president Fran Katsoudas. Côte d'Ivoire is positioning itself as a digital hub for francophone West Africa, and the centre gives the region a facility combining live threat monitoring, incident response and professional training under one roof.

For a region where governments and businesses face mounting pressure to protect digital infrastructure, the Abidjan centre is intended to be more than a national facility. Its operators say it will serve neighbouring countries too, combining threat monitoring, incident response and training under one roof.