Visa to inject $1bn in Africa over 5 years to cash in on e-payments boom

Visa Inc has announced plans to invest $1 billion over the next 5 years in Africa in a bid to capitalize on the emerging economy’s rapid growth in digital payments.

“Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business,” chief executive officer Alfred Kelly Jr said in a statement.

The announcement came on the sideline of the U.S-African summit held in Washington last week.

E-payment market on the continent is on a booming trend and revenue is expected to grow by nearly 20% a year, to reach around $40bn by 2025, compared with about $200 bn in Latin America according to a report by McKinsey consultancy firm.

“It’s one of our fastest growing regions,” Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, said.

The world’s largest payments processor has added over 50% more employees in the continent since the end of 2019, with the vast majority during the pandemic, he added.

The chief executive officer Alfred Kelly also indicated that investments will scale Visa’s operations in Africa and deepen ties with governments, fintechs and merchants. The investment will also help “strengthen the payment ecosystem through new innovations and technologies.”
Visa has rolled out recently Visa Acceptance Cloud, a platform which turns virtually any device into a payment terminal.