EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS > PUBLIC SECTOR
Trailblazing Innovation & Digital Services in Sudan
At the core of this story is a group of trailblazers and calculated risk takers: the Syber Group leadership team. This is a team that understands that failure simply means that you have not yet succeeded and that enabling the success of others is the ultimate catalyst of their own success. Since its inception in early 2015, Syber Group has evolved from a dominant Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems integrator to a team of 120+ harmoniously collaborative team members delivering disruptive innovation to the Sudanese technology landscape.
Before they were co- founders, the team were peers at a mutual systems integrator but the harmony among them was undeniably strong and they knew they would do something amazing together one day. They just didn’t know at the time that it would be this amazing! From left to right, Syber Group Co-Founders, Sharif Amar, Alaa Aljack, Murtada Makki, & Ahmed Alamin Trailblazing Innovation & Digital Services in Sudan Given the extensive technology and cyber security expertise in the partners’ DNA, ICT strategy and consulting services became the natural starting point for Syber Group in early 2015. Given the partners’ well- established reputations, it was not long before Syber’s list of references widely expanded to include telcos, ISPs, government organizations, oil & gas companies, banks and SMEs in Sudan. The list of projects also varied from deploying public cloud services for a dominant Telco to managing a bank’s core network security. But the team saw so much untapped potential in both the talent pool and in the market.
Syber Group was Sudan’s pioneer FinTech provider with their marquis product, SyberPay, which was the first online payment processor in the country. During the past six years, Syber Group has evolved to a company that has spearheaded numerous digital platforms focusing on the enablement of eCommerce, logistics, delivery, travel, and education management in the country and in support of local businesses.
SyberPay is a full-fledged online payment platform comprising a Web Application, Mobile App, PoS solution and much more. SyberPay is the first certified payment processor in Sudan. It is a platform that aggregates several payment options and exposes them as simpler interfaces for integration.
SyberPay processes payments made at any merchant’s platform, website or app. Currently, the SyberPay platform supports a variety of payment methods including debit cards, cash cards (e-Purse Cards), and Mobile wallets. The platform also has a Biller Aggregator, Syber Biller, to help solve various challenges associated with billers in Sudan, whereby they each have their own unique interfaces. Syber Biller connects to each biller using that biller’s own interface and unique parameters and expose a unified and normalized interface for the aggregation of these billers. For billers without an interface, Syber Group is committed to assisting them in creating an interface and adding them to the Syber Biller repertoire.
The platform enables banked customers to access financial and non-financial services. Using SyberPayPlus, the mobile version of the platform, one can pay for utilities, telecom top ups and bill, alongside with a long list of billers to pay for.
Developed in late 2015 with a launch date of December 2016, SyberPay saw 40% MoM growth throughout 2019. The January 2019 customer base of 5,000 customers had reached 320K+ customers in May 2021, with more than 300 Merchants and Service Providers. The Mobile app was launched in March 2018 for Android and IoS.
SyberPay is now processing Visa payments making SyberPay the 1st online payment processor in the country that processes Visa transactions. In 2016, Syber Group built Sudan’s first online marketplace, 3amir (www.3amir.com), as a joint venture effort with a regionally dominant telco operator, Zain. This state- of-the-art, multi-tenant eCommerce platform was launched in 2018 and offers end-to-end services for sellers and buyers, including online and cash-on-delivery payments, delivery services and marketing. 3amir leverages SyberPay’s payment platform while creating an even larger flywheel opportunity for Syber Group to expand into the Logistics space, which in turn was a catalyst for the launch of an online delivery application, Syber Delivery. Syber Group also successfully launched the first Business to Consumer (B2C) Travel eCommerce Portal in the country, Haboob (www.haboob.travel). Furthermore, and in alignment with their mission to empower and engage the youth and develop top talent in Sudan, Syber Group has most recently launched Eduvate, a cloud-based Education Management System (EMS) focusing on small and midsize colleges, universities, diploma institutes and private/governmental schools. Syber Delivery is a features-rich delivery platform with a variety of business models – C2C, B2B, B2C and B2Corporate. Apart from the platform, the company owns a fleet of more than 100+ brand new motorcycles. But those are not the last of the firsts! Each of these individual businesses have been self-funded by Syber Group proving yet again that it is absolutely possible to successfully bootstrap a business in Sudan and generate revenue before requiring any form of external funding.
“We believe in innovation as opposed to stagnation; and simplicity as opposed to complexity… but ultimately it’s about our culture.”
In their effort to provide a healthy and inspirational workspace that fosters collaboration and innovation, the team feels they work hard to mimic the culture of a successful Silicon Valley startup. It’s a generally casual culture, from the décor and seating to the flexible work hours and executive leadership’s relationship with the staff. The values embedded in the culture have also allowed the majority of the staff to take ownership, in the employee retention % to locality. There is a generally positive inflow of recent graduates and members of Sudan’s highly motivated and energetic youth, most of which are ambitious, curious to learn more, and eager to prove themselves.
• If you want to be trusted, you must trust
• Give employees the opportunity to get to know one another
• Create a cool space
• Give ‘em free stuff
• Encourage growth and ownership
• Everyone understands how they contribute
• Everyone can be themselves
• Corporate speak is minimal
• Teamwork happens
• Recognition happens
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
Sudan Business Magazine
