التكنولوجيا وأخبارها بوابة مصر لأخبار تكنولوجيا المعلومات والإتصالات وفي أفريقيا كما تعتبر مصدر رئيسي للمعلومات حول تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات والفرص الاستثمارية المرتبطة بالاقتصاد الرقمي في المنطقة بالكامل
Visa Pledges to Invest $1 billion in Africa to Accelerate Digital Transformation
During US-Africa Business Forum, Visa outlines pledge to invest $1 billion in Africa by 2027 to
scale operations, deploy new innovative technologies and deepen collaboration with partners.
During the U.S-Africa Business Forum, Visa (NYSE: V) today announced a pledge to
invest $1 billion in Africa over the next five years to advance resilient, innovative, and inclusive
economies across the continent. Visa’s expanded investments demonstrate the company’s
long-term commitment to Africa’s growth potential and will help enable greater access to
digital payments as an entry point for expanding formal financial services for individuals and merchants.
Visa Chairman and CEO Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. outlined the pledge during the US-Africa Business Forum,
alongside the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. The pledge will further scale
Visa’s operations in Africa, and deepen collaboration with strategic partners including governments,
financial institutions, mobile network operators, fintechs and merchants.
The investments will also focus on strengthening the payment ecosystem through new
innovations and technologies, supporting digitization of economies, and investing in upskilling,
talent development and capacity building.
“Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business,
and today our commitment to the continent remains as firm and unwavering as ever,” said Al Kelly,
Chairman and CEO, Visa, Inc. “Every day, Visa supports digital commerce and money
movement in every country across the continent, and Africa remains central to Visa’s long-term
growth plans. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners to advance
the financial ecosystem, accelerate digitization and to build resilient, innovative, and inclusive
economies that will create shared opportunity and further spur Africa’s digital economy.”
In line with Visa’s corporate purpose to be the best way to pay and be paid, these investments
will facilitate additional opportunities to expand financial inclusion. Visa is dedicated
to empowering small- and women-led entrepreneurship in Africa through its operations and
community programs. Today, an estimated 500 million people in Africa are without access
to formal financial services, less than 50% of the adult population made or received digital
payments in Africa, and more than 40 million merchants do not accept digital payments.
“Africa is experiencing an unprecedented digital acceleration, with a growing number of consumers,
merchants and businesses realizing the benefits of secure and convenient digital payments to fuel
commerce and money movement,” said Aida Diarra, Senior Vice President, Visa Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Over the past year Visa has continued growing our investment in Africa, through new offices,
new innovations and solutions, and programs that are directly supporting financial inclusion.
The investment pledge outlines our long-term commitment to Africa and the work we will do to
help advance the financial ecosystem.”
“Expanding financial inclusion is critical to long-term economic prosperity, and we are proud
to have worked with financial and public sector partners to launch new initiatives such as She’s Next,”
said Leila Serhan, Senior Vice President, Visa North Africa Levant and Pakistan. “We look forward
to continuing to support programs that advance inclusion and prosperity, while introducing new
innovations designed for consumers and businesses across Africa.”
Visa has recently made significant strategic investments to advance its Africa expansion,
including:
• Establishing local operations for the first time in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Ethiopia and Sudan to help support and strengthen the local financial ecosystem.
Visa has 10 offices across Africa from which it supports payments in all 54 countries.
• Unveiling the first dedicated Visa Sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Studio, in Nairobi,
Kenya, to provide a state-of-the-art environment to bring together clients and partners
to co-create future-ready payment and commerce solutions.
• Introducing and expanding new technologies that help African consumers and merchants
make and receive digital payments, such as Tap to Phone which can turn a simple mobile
phone into a payment device, as well as lowering remittance costs through innovative solutions
like Visa Direct.
• Establishing Visa as the fintech partner of choice, working together with innovative financial
technology companies and entrepreneurs, including running the Visa Everywhere Initiative program,
which launched dedicated country programs in Ethiopia and Egypt, with the global program
attracting entrants from across Africa.
• Launching new programs to support women’s empowerment together with financial partners,
including She’s Next, which is bringing funding, mentoring and networking opportunities
to female entrepreneurs leading growing SMBs in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa.
• Collaborating, with partners, to advance financial literacy in several languages,
including the first Arabic version of Practical Money Skills in Egypt.
