Visa opens Nairobi innovation hub, the first in Africa

Global digital payments giant Visa has opened an innovation studio in Kenya, the first in Africa, to expand its reach in the region.

The studio will bring together developers, Visa’s internal and external clients, and other partners to co-create payment and commerce solutions.

Opening of the hub in Kenya is a strategy to capture market as consumers switch to new payment platforms and digital wallets that could bypass the card networks or slow their revenue growth.

Last year, Visa partnered with Kenya’s largest telco Safaricom to allow the firm’s 150,000 mobile money (M-Pesa) merchants to accept card payments.

The Nairobi studio is the first in Africa and sixth globally, after posts in Dubai, London, Miami, San Francisco and Singapore.

Senior vice president and head of Visa in Sub-Saharan Africa, Aida Diarra, said the studio will assist in increasing Visa market in the region by issuing digital and physical Visa to its clients.

 “Sub-Saharan Africa is a fast-growing region with a tech-savvy population and as we continue to grow digital payments adoption in the region, our aspiration is to deepen our collaboration with clients and partners in developing solutions that are designed around the unique needs of Africa,” said Diarra.