Hysen expands to Sierra Leone

Byte and Wireless Consultants, an IT solution firm in Sierra Leone, joined forces last month with Hysen International to create a new company, Hysen Infotech.

German company Wincor Nixdorf International linked the two firms together, according to Sallieu Kabba, Hysen Infotech managing director

Byte and Wireless, now fully transformed, started as a sole proprietorship in 2000 to provide IT services and training. Its owner later decided to expand the one-man business, and it was transformed into a limited-liability company five years later to add computer sales, server installation and networking to its services.

"During our bid to expand, Hysen was already on the lookout for a local IT firm in Sierra Leone, with people who are familiar with the market and can help maintain its benchmark in every area it plans to establish the company," Kabba said. "And, at Byte and Wireless, we already created our mark in terms of response to customers and credibility. We were looking out, too, for a partner with similar qualities.

"We linked up with Wincor Nixdorf for ATMs, and they introduced us to Hysen. So, we started work on the merger. We went to Ghana to find out more about the company and for more training. And, as the fastest-growing IT firm in Ghana, their record was really remarkable. So we merged," he explained.

Hysen International is headquartered in Gibraltar, with subsidiaries in Ghana and The Gambia.

On Hysen Infotech's new line of products, particularly ATMs, Kabba maintained that competition will not only encourage improved performance but give customers more choice, as the ATM industry in the country was formerly monopolized by NCR.

"We want to make this society a banked, rather than an unbankable, society. We want to make people trust their banks as far as our ATMs ... are concerned," he said.

The company's new ATMs, provided by Wincor Nixdorf, are multifunction machines that can accept deposits, print out full bank statements, accept bill payments, transfer funds and even recharge credit on mobile phones.

"It is unlike the mono-function ATMs that are in use now in Sierra Leone, which can only dispense cash and issue mini-statements," Kabba said. "Later, we also plan to link these ATMs to Visa for its cardholders to have access to their funds while in Sierra Leone, rather than carrying cash all along."

Hysen Infotech has almost finalized plans to provide banks with its products, but the present global financial crisis seems to be slowing down implementation, Kabba admitted.

Nevertheless, he said, the company has noticeable regional presence and plans to venture into Liberia in 2009.