Visa Inc is readying to invest $1 billion during the course of the next five years in Africa to profit from the emerging economy’s rapid growth in digital payments, the company stated at the US-Africa Leaders Summit on Wednesday.
The United States is playing the host country and is headed by President Joe Biden in Washington, DC, and started on Tuesday.
In an official statement by Chief Executive Officer Alfred Kelly Jr of the global digital payment company, he said, “Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business.”
A report by McKinsey in September stated that the investments in Africa throw fresh light on a huge development opportunity on the continent where cash would most probably become less popular in coming years with e-payments gaining momentum.
Africa’s financial markets are witnessing a surge in e-payments and would expectedly see revenues rise by around 20% per year, touching around $40 billion by 2025, a number comparable to Latin America’s $200 billion, added the report.
Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Andrew Torre said, “It’s one of our fastest growing regions.”
After the end of 2019, Visa, the world’s highest payment processor hired an additional over 50% of employees in Africa, with major hiring being done during COVID-19, he added.
The investments will increase Visa’s operations in Africa and strengthen relations with governments, fintech, and merchants, according to Andrew Torre. He added, “It will also help strengthen the payment ecosystem through new innovations and technologies”.
The business just launched a new technology, Visa Acceptance Cloud, a platform that allows almost any device to function as a payment terminal.
