500m Africans without formal financial service as Visa pledges $1b on digitisation

By Adeyemi Adepetun

During the U.S-Africa Business Forum, Visa 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 claimed that its 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 digitisation of economies, and investing in upskilling, talent development and capacity building.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Visa, Inc., Al Kelly, said 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.

“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 digitisation 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.

Visa revealed that today, an estimated 500 million people in Africa are without access to formal financial services, less than 50 per cent of the adult population made or received digital payments in Africa, and more than 40 million merchants do not accept digital payments.

Senior Vice President, Visa sub-Saharan Africa, Aida Diarra, said Africa is experiencing an unprecedented digital acceleration, with a growing number of consumers, merchants and businesses realising the benefits of secure and convenient digital payments to fuel commerce and money movement.

“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,” Diarra stated.

Senior Vice President, Visa North Africa Levant and Pakistan, Leila Serhan, said:

“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. We look forward to continuing to support programs that advance inclusion and prosperity, while introducing new innovations designed for consumers and businesses across Africa.”