The Banking Executive Magazine - December Issue 2022

Visa Visa to Invest $1bln in Africa OVER 5 YEARS TO CASH IN ON E-PAYMENTS BOOM Visa Inc plans to invest $1 billion over the next five years in Africa to capitalize on the emerging econ- omy's rapid growth in digital pay- ments, the company said at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. "Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business," Chief Executive Officer Al- fred Kelly Jr said in a statement. The investments in Africa shine a new light on a major growth oppor- tunity on the continent where cash is likely to be challenged in coming years as e-payments gain momen- tum, according to a McKinsey report in September. Africa's booming e-payments market is expected to see revenues grow by nearly 20% a year, reaching around $40 billion by 2025, compared with about $200 billion in Latin America, the report added. "It's one of our fastest growing re- gions," Andrew Torre, Visa's regional president for central and eastern Eu- rope, Middle East and Africa, told Reuters in an interview on Wednes- day. The world's largest payments proces- sor has added over 50% more em- ployees in the continent since the end of 2019, with the vast majority during the pandemic, he added. The investments will scale Visa's op- erations in Africa and deepen ties with governments, fintechs and mer- chants, according to the statement. It will also help "strengthen the pay- ment ecosystem through new inno- vations and technologies". Among new technologies, the com- pany recently rolled out Visa Accept- ance Cloud, a platform which turns virtually any device into a payments terminal. the BANKING EXECUTIVE 34 ISSUE 168 DECEMBER 2022