Driving inclusive growth in Africa: Visa’s Fintech Accelerator Program
Visa’s Africa Fintech Accelerator Program offers up to 40 of the most promising fintech start-ups, across North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the opportunity to fast-track their success.
Now in its second year, the initiative targets fintechs that are between Seed and Series A stage funding across the African continent. Participants are paired with mentors, given access to cutting-edge payment technology, and presented with unparalleled investment opportunities. With this support, Visa intends to further strengthen the continent’s regional payments ecosystems by supporting and scaling technologies and solutions that meet the unique needs of the African market. It stems from Visa’s pledge to invest $1 billion in Africa’s digital transformation by 2027 and to drive inclusive growth.
This year’s program witnessed applicants from 18 African countries who embarked on a 12-week remote program culminating in an in-person Demo Day in Nairobi on 13 February to showcase their innovations to funding partners, angel investors and venture capitalists. This access to opportunities for funding and partnership has been cited as invaluable as these start-ups look to scale their businesses.
Francis A. Obirikorang, CEO and co-founder of Ghana-based Agrocenta, a solution which unlocks digital financial services to rural smallholder farmers, was among the 23 start-up founders who participated in the first cohort in 2023. He said of the program: “One of the best decisions we’ve made as a company was to join the Visa Africa Accelerator Program. It has been an immersive learning experience in refining our business model, coaching on how to fundraise and how to manage investor relations.
We were also able to explore alternative payment channels for smallholder farmers and other value chain actors and develop how we use technology to move underserved smallholder farmers from poverty to prosperity. I would recommend the Visa Africa Accelerator Program to all innovators who are building the next big thing for the African market.”
Other participants in previous cohorts have also noted the value of access to Visa’s resources, transformative training to upskill teams, and collaborative opportunities to solve common problems as key benefits of the program.
They also emphasize the invaluable opportunity for partnership, mentorship, and collaboration with leading sector players. For instance, Plug and Play, the world’s leading innovation platform, serves as Visa’s training and investing partner. Throughout the program, Plug and Play delivers content, facilitates access to mentors, arranges one-on-one coaching sessions, and connects start-ups with its global investment team for investment consideration and review.
Africa has one of the world’s most exciting fintech ecosystems, attracting outstanding entrepreneurial talent to a rapidly growing, digital-first population. The Fintech Accelerator Program underscores Visa’s commitment to uplift everyone, everywhere. As the program enters its second year, Visa plans to further support African fintech growth by driving financial inclusion, fostering entrepreneurship, and supporting fintech growth with investment consideration from both Visa and its partners.
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