Visa Hopes to Accelerate Africa’s Startup Community

Visa has launched a program to help promote Africa’s growing startup community.

The company’s Africa FinTech Accelerator, announced Wednesday (June 14) will help up to 40 startups per year expand via a program centered around business growth and mentoring.

“Africa has one of the most exciting and admired fintech ecosystems in the world, bringing outstanding entrepreneurial talent to a young digital-first population that is growing fast,” Visa Executive Chairman Alfred F. Kelly Jr., said in a news release.

FinTech startups in Africa can apply for the program during two application periods each year, the first one starting next month.

“Following the program completion, Visa intends to further support fintech growth with capital investment in select participating businesses, while accelerating their commercial launch through access to Visa technology and capabilities,” the release said.

The accelerator’s launch comes six months after Visa pledged to invest $1 billion in Africa to speed the continent’s digital transformation.

As PYMNTS reported late last year, the company plans to use those funds to scale operations, release new technologies and further collaboration with its partners — such as merchants, FinTechs and mobile operators — over the next five years.

“With its structural role in global transactions, Visa’s investment could unlock untapped potential for payment digitization on the continent,” PYMNTS wrote.

Less than half of Africa’s adult population has made or received digital payments, while more than 40 million African merchants don’t accept them, Visa said.

PYMNTS examined the state of startups in Africa in March in a conversation with Maurizio Caio, founder and managing partner at Africa-focused venture capital (VC) firm TLcom Capital.

He said the magnitude of the opportunity in Africa is not lost on Africa-focused VCs, which are on the ground each day and can testify to the region’s potential.

But “if you’re sitting in New York or Palo Alto or London, it is objectively more challenging to get that feeling,” Caio acknowledged.

It’s the reason why, he added, the burden is on Africa’s VC community to raise awareness around the ability of Africa’s startups to deliver high returns, and thus boost the meager sum of $4 billion to $5 billion that is invested in Africa’s VC space per year.

“We’re not only in the business of giving out money; we also need to show the world that it’s a good idea to invest in Africa,” Caio said.

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