The bureau is part of the US fintech company’s African expansion strategy. It will serve as a base for the extension of Visa Inc.’s footprint in Central Africa. 

Electronic payment solutions provider Visa Inc. recently opened a bureau in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), its first in Central Africa. The bureau was inaugurated during an official visit of a Visa Inc. delegation led by its CEO, Alfred Kelly.

On Wednesday, August 10, in Kinshasa, the delegation met with Congolese Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde to discuss digitalization projects. During the audience, Alfred Kelly explained that the DRC bureau is urgently needed because the country is one of the most dynamic in Africa. Visa is “pleased to establish a local presence (there). Our shared goal is to expand access to e-commerce and support the DRC economy by working closely with public and private partners,” he said.

Through its local bureau, Visa will partner with public and private actors and decentralize access to digital services for the population by introducing new solutions. It will also create solutions facilitating payment collection. 

During one of his previous visits to the DRC, Alfred Kelly inked partnerships with the country's central bank, financial institutions, fintech companies, merchants, and mobile operators. In the coming months, Visa will issue unique identifiers for more than 150,000 M-PESA clients in the DRC. It will also assist fintech company Infoset in a project to boost financial inclusion.

The DRC bureau is the eighth inaugurated by Visa Inc. in Africa. The seven others are in South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Kenya, and Nigeria. In 2016, when it inaugurated its bureau in Côte d'Ivoire, Visa justified it with its ambition to capitalize on the growth potential of the French-speaking African market and also get closer to its clients, who are involved in the development of digital payment solutions.

Samira Njoya