New Innovation Studio in Nairobi is the first in Sub-Saharan Africa and will provide
Visa partners with cutting-edge capabilities to co-create future commerce solutions
Visa (Visa Inc), the world leader in digital payments, has today opened a
new Innovation Studio in Nairobi, its first dedicated innovation site in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This facility
will serve the sub-Saharan Africa region and joins a network of innovation centres operated by Visa since
2016, in cities including Dubai, Singapore and San Francisco.
The new facility supports Visa’s commitment to promoting innovation and creating opportunities for clients
and fintech partners to co-create market-relevant payment and commerce solutions throughout the
region. The facility is designed to replicate the success of Visa’s flagship innovation centre, One Market in
San Francisco and provide Visa’s partners with access to tools that strengthen their capabilities in
developing new solutions.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is a fast-growing region with a tech-savvy population. 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 Aida Diarra, Senior Vice
President & Head of Visa in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“As a brand built on technology, Visa has driven the major technological advancements that make electronic
payments what they are today. We are confident that the innovation studio will continue that legacy and
cement Sub-Saharan Africa’s position as a leader in creating out of the box solutions to deal with our most
pressing challenges as a region,” added Diarra.
Businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa have been leading the way in introducing new methods of paying, and
being paid, by harnessing innovative technologies. Ideas to expand the growth of emerging payment areas
such as Tap to Phone and Pay on Delivery will be explored at the Innovation Studio alongside the ongoing
development of cutting-edge smarter payment solutions that leverage blockchain, the Internet of Things,
Virtual Reality and biometrics.
The studio will help Visa clients and partners from across the continent extend their service offerings.
Through a human-centred approach, the studio’s immersive environment will also provide clients and
partners with tools overcome some of their biggest business challenges while uncovering new commercial
avenues of opportunity
Visa Confidential 2
Visa’s Innovation Centers have been instrumental in the conceptualization and implementation of new
business ideas and platforms around the globe. Several Sub-Saharan African companies have already
leveraged Visa’s innovation centre capabilities, these include Paga; who collaborated with Visa to co-create
a platform that offers tools to small businesses; and Safaricom on a solution to enable 24 million M-PESA
users to transact at Visa merchant locations, and 150,000 M-PESA merchants to accept Visa card payments.
The studio was officially opened by the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Dr Patrick Njoroge, at an
the event was attended by leading banks, financial technology companies and innovation specialists from across
Sub-Saharan Africa
Published on Brandfit.
Also published on https://brandfit.ng/2022/04/06/visa-opens-first-innovation-studio-in-africato-advance-future-payment-solutions/
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