Ivory Coast simulates major cyberattack
800 participants from energy, telecoms, and finance faced a fictional digital crisis in Abidjan.
The first national cyber crisis simulation, CYBER.EX 2026, began on Wednesday, October 28, in Port-Bouët, Ivory Coast. The National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI) organized the exercise where 800 participants from the energy, telecoms, and finance sectors faced a large-scale, fictional cyberattack. The teams in Abidjan were tasked with managing a crisis, making quick decisions, coordinating efforts, and maintaining services under virtual assault.
ANSSI Director General, Brigadier General Guelpétchin Ouattara, stated that participants would test their collective capabilities in real conditions against a major cyber crisis. The exercise focuses on four skills: piloting, decision-making, coordination, and business continuity. Minister Mamadou Touré, speaking on behalf of the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, described cyberspace as a new battlefield and a domain of confrontation, emphasizing that a vulnerability in a neighboring country could become their own.
The simulation aims to improve collaboration among national cybersecurity ecosystem actors, who rarely convene. Minister of Digital Transition, Djibril Ouattara, highlighted cybersecurity as a key state policy instrument. A Senegalese delegation's presence indicated Abidjan's intention to share its experience and contribute to West Africa's collective security, according to Mamadou Touré.
Why it mattersThe simulation tested the response capabilities of 800 participants from Ivory Coast's energy, telecoms, and finance sectors to a large-scale cyberattack.