Visa Opens First African Data Centre to Boost Digital Payments
Visa has opened its first data centre in Africa, located in Johannesburg. This move aligns with the company's strategy to support digital payments growth and local regulatory expectations. It also comes at a time when South Africa's fintech scene is booming.
Visa's data centre, part of a R1 billion (~$56.9 million) investment over five years, will enhance VisaNet's capabilities. It will reduce latency for African transactions, ensuring faster processing times, and improve service reliability. Additionally, it will bolster compliance with local data laws.
The centre's inauguration follows Visa's earlier agritech partnership with ThriveAgric in Kenya. This collaboration helped onboard 10,000 smallholder farmers, demonstrating Visa's commitment to supporting local initiatives.
Visa's entry into the African data centre market adds to a growing tech infrastructure ecosystem. Other players like Airtel Africa and Teraco are also expanding their data centre presence, contributing to the region's fintech growth.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) had proposed establishing large regional data centres to facilitate interoperability and enable governments to access payment data. Visa's new data centre in Johannesburg supports this proposal, further boosting South Africa's fintech scene and digital payments growth in Africa.
