Indonesian cybersecurity firm ITSEC Asia and Ivorian IT services provider Société de Gestion et de Concept en Informatique (SGCI) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on security operations capabilities for public institutions and critical infrastructure operators in Côte d’Ivoire.
The companies said the partnership marks ITSEC Asia’s first entry into Africa, with plans to work on “national-scale security operations projects” in Côte d’Ivoire. The agreement will be delivered through ITSEC Asia’s subsidiary, ITSEC Services Asia Pte. Ltd.
The companies linked the partnership to rising cyber risk as organisations in Côte d’Ivoire increase digital transformation efforts. They also pointed to the convergence of information technology, operational technology and industrial control systems as expanding attack surfaces in industrial and critical infrastructure environments, increasing the need for continuous monitoring, detection and response.
Under the MoU, SGCI will lead local client engagement and delivery, drawing on its existing work in information systems audit, integration, offensive security and digital forensics. ITSEC Asia will provide cybersecurity solutions, technical expertise, training and ongoing support for SGCI’s local teams.
Patrick Dannacher, President Director of ITSEC Asia, said: “Organisations in Côte d’Ivoire are being asked to defend increasingly complex environments, and that requires sustained operational capability, not one-off engagements. 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. This collaboration is part of our broader international strategy to work with established partners in each market and make advanced cybersecurity capabilities more accessible to the Ivorian organisations that need them.”
Cyrille Koffi, Managing Director (Gérant) of SGCI, said: “Public institutions and critical infrastructure operators in Côte d’Ivoire need cybersecurity that is operated continuously, locally and in compliance with national regulation. SGCI brings more than twenty years of presence, a recognised audit practice and proven integration and security operations capabilities. With ITSEC Asia’s technology and scale, we are building a sovereign response, hosted and operated locally, starting with national-level projects.”
The companies said ITSEC Asia will make available, through SGCI, services including a security operations centre, managed detection and response, threat intelligence, OT/ICS security assessments, and training, as well as its IntelliBroń Orion platform. SGCI will contribute governance and compliance expertise, information systems audit, offensive testing and digital forensics, alongside integration, hosting and local operations.
