Cyrille Koffi, managing director of Ivorian IT services firm SGCI, put the stake plainly: “Public institutions and critical infrastructure operators in Côte d’Ivoire need cybersecurity that is operated continuously, locally and in compliance with national regulation.” His company has now signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesian cybersecurity firm ITSEC Asia to deliver advanced security operations capabilities to the public institutions and critical infrastructure operators that citizens and organizations across the country rely on.
The backdrop is a familiar one for ordinary service users. As public and private sector organizations in Côte d’Ivoire accelerate their digital transformation, their exposure to cyberthreats grows at the same pace, the two firms said in a joint statement. That makes sustained protection a matter of broad public concern, not merely a corporate one.
For the people who depend on these services, the arrangement is designed to ensure that cybersecurity is not an occasional exercise but a permanent, locally rooted capability. Under the memorandum, SGCI will lead local client engagement and delivery, while ITSEC Asia will serve as its cybersecurity technology and capability partner. The Indonesian firm will provide solutions, technical expertise, training and ongoing support for SGCI’s local teams, helping to build skills within the country rather than relying solely on outside intervention.
The deal pairs SGCI’s local presence, engineering capabilities and client relationships with ITSEC Asia’s experience operating cybersecurity solutions across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The two companies intend to work together on national-scale security operations projects in Côte d’Ivoire to address what they describe as a rising cybersecurity challenge in the West African country.
“Organizations in Côte d’Ivoire are being asked to defend increasingly complex environments, and that requires sustained operational capability, not one-off engagements,” said Patrick Dannacher, president director of ITSEC Asia. “SGCI has spent more than twenty years building the trust and the engineering depth that this work depends on. Our role is to bring the technology and the operational experience that sits behind it.”
Dannacher added that the collaboration forms part of the company’s broader strategy to work with established partners in each market and to make advanced cybersecurity capabilities more accessible to local organizations that need them. The partnership also marks ITSEC Asia’s first entry into Africa and is part of its international expansion strategy across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
SGCI, an Abidjan-based digital services company specializing in information systems audit and IT solutions integration, already supports public institutions and critical infrastructure operators in Côte d’Ivoire, giving the partnership an established local foundation. ITSEC Asia is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and maintains offices in Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Mauritius and Dubai.
Whether this locally rooted model can keep pace with the country’s accelerating digital risks is the question the partnership will now have to answer. Further details on the agreement are available at https://www.connectingafrica.com/cybersecurity/itsec-asia-expands-into-africa-with-sgci-c-te-d-ivoire-deal.