The 2006 dumping and its aftermath
Twenty years after toxic waste from the cargo ship Probo Koala was dumped across Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, the disaster remains an open wound for many victims and a symbol of wealthy countries sending unwanted waste to Africa, as reported by AllAfrica and RFI.
On 19 August 2006, more than 500 tonnes of harmful substances unloaded from the ship were dumped at 18 sites around Côte d'Ivoire's economic capital. The fumes spread a foul smell across parts of the city, killing 17 people according to the official toll and leaving tens of thousands suffering symptoms of poisoning. Akouédo, a village of the Ebrié people in the Cocody district, was among the places affected.
The night the waste arrived is still vivid for William Akessé, who was 26 at the time and is now spokesperson for the village chief. "That night, my wife had had a caesarean section," Akessé said. "I had only just returned from the hospital with her, and it was that very same night that the waste was dumped. We couldn't even breathe – the stench was terrible. My child died."
Contested settlement
The disaster eventually led to an agreement between the Ivorian government and Trafigura, the commodities trading company implicated in the case. In 2007, Trafigura agreed to pay €152 million to help clean up affected sites and compensate victims. In return, legal proceedings brought against the company in Côte d'Ivoire were withdrawn.
For victims' organisations, however, the settlement remains deeply controversial. The agreement prevented victims from pursuing the company through Ivorian courts, said Denis Yao Pipira, who represents victims' associations. "What the government did was sign an agreement that grants Trafigura immunity," Pipira said. "That made it difficult for us to take legal action against Trafigura. It was not possible to do so in our courts. The government simply took a few banknotes and then abandoned the victims."
Legal efforts later continued outside Côte d'Ivoire. In the Netherlands, the Court of Cassation ordered Trafigura to compensate victims. In 2023, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights ruled that the compensation arrangements were insufficient and ordered the creation of a fund to repair the harm caused. Victims are still waiting for that fund.
Ivorian authorities, for their part, maintain that all polluted sites have been fully cleaned up since 2015.
Cost-cutting at the heart of the disaster
Amnesty International said Trafigura declined to dispose of the toxic liquids in the Netherlands because the operation would have cost about $620,000. Instead, the company contracted the Ivorian company Tommy, which offered to handle the toxic material for $17,000. This cost-cutting decision, as highlighted by Amnesty, is widely seen as a driver of the disaster.
The broader context of waste trade has only intensified since. After China banned imports of many categories of solid waste in 2018, waste exports to Africa increased, including electronic waste, textiles and plastics. Until that ban, China had received almost half of the world's waste. Greenpeace estimated that 30 to 40 percent of second-hand clothing imported into Kenya in 2019 was worthless because garments were damaged, badly stained or unsuitable for local weather and customs.
Campaign groups continue to press the issue. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and Break Free From Plastic stated in May that environments, communities and workers in the informal waste sector are forced to bear a burden that is not theirs.
Regulatory responses and exemptions
In response to rising waste flows, the European Union adopted new waste shipment rules in 2024, including tougher restrictions on plastic waste exports. From 21 November 2026, EU countries will generally be prohibited from exporting plastic waste to non-OECD states unless the receiving country has been granted an exemption. Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia and Togo are among the African states seeking exemptions that would allow them to continue importing certain plastic waste from the EU.
As the twentieth anniversary of the Probo Koala disaster passes, the tension between regulatory efforts and economic pressures remains unresolved, with victims still awaiting the compensation fund ordered by the African Court.