Visa to invest in Africa’s digital transformation

Visa has pledged to invest $1 billion in Africa to accelerate digital transformation.

The announcement was made during the US-Africa Business Forum in Washington on Wednesday (December 14).

Visa will use the money to scale operations, deploy new technology and deepen cooperation with partners over the next five years. These include merchants, governments, financial institutions (FIs), FinTechs and mobile network operators, according to a corresponding press release.

The inclusion of mobile network operators reflects the different role Visa plays in Africa’s payments ecosystem compared to the US.

As well as acting as a partner for banks that issue credit and debit cards, Visa’s African operations require it to work alongside the continent’s mobile money and alternative payment FinTechs, which use solutions including mobile wallets and virtual cards to bring digital payments to the unbanked populations.

“Visa has invested in Africa for decades to grow a truly local business, and today our commitment to the continent remains as firm and unwavering as ever,” Visa Chairman and CEO Al Kelly said in the release. “Every day, Visa supports digital commerce and money movements in every country across the continent… We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners to advance the financial ecosystem, accelerate digitization and build robust, innovative and inclusive economies that will create shared opportunities and further stimulate Africa’s digital economy.”

With its structural role in global transactions, Visa’s investment could unlock untapped potential for payment digitization on the continent.

Less than 50% of the adult population in Africa have made or received digital payments, and more than 40 million African merchants do not accept them, according to the release.

With these figures, Visa is not the only player in global payments investing in Africa.

In October, Mastercard partnered with nClude, an Egyptian FinTech investment platform, to accelerate digital transformation in the country.

Shortly after that, the American card company announced that it would partner with the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) to help adopt digital payments and digitize Egypt’s financial system.

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