Visa, a global leader in digital payments, has announced strategic investments in four pioneering African fintechs from its inaugural Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator cohort. This move underscores Visa's commitment to driving digital innovation and financial inclusion across Africa, aligning with its goal to invest $1 billion on the continent by 2027.
The four start-ups selected represent diverse solutions tailored to the unique needs of African markets:
Oze (Ghana): Specializing in digital tools for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Oze provides record-keeping, embedded finance, and a Loan Management System with machine learning credit scoring to support financial institutions in expanding credit access for MSMEs.
Workpay (Kenya): This HR tech company offers a comprehensive cloud-based platform for payroll, HR management, and benefits administration across 35 African countries, enhancing employee lifecycle management for businesses.
OkHi (Nigeria): A smart addressing system that enables precise digital address verification, OkHi improves delivery efficiency and broadens financial access by allowing businesses to easily verify and locate accurate addresses.
ORDA (Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa): ORDA digitizes restaurant operations through cloud-based software, optimizing order processing, inventory management, and financial services for over 1,500 restaurants.
The program’s second cohort will showcase their solutions on December 2 in Cape Town at a Demo Day, presenting to investors and ecosystem partners. Visa’s Africa Fintech Accelerator, a three-month intensive program launched in 2023, provides start-ups with mentorship, training, and pathways to funding, helping to shape Africa's digital economy.
Godfrey Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Products, Partnerships and Digital Solutions for Visa CEMEA, said “These investments mark a substantial step for Visa – we are once again standing behind our commitment to innovation in Africa, helping to shape the future of digital payments alongside some of the brightest fintech minds that the continent has to offer. Visa sees each investment as a unique opportunity to drive financial access and inclusion, and we are proud to support these start-ups as they realize their vision for a more connected Africa.”
Meghan McCormick, Chief Executive Officer at Oze commented: “This investment marks the latest pivotal moment in our journey, enabling us to scale our innovations to continue supporting MSMEs across Africa – something that both we and our shareholders are truly passionate about.”
Timbo Drayson, Co-Founder and CEO of Okhi commented: "We are thrilled to welcome Visa onboard as we continue to disrupt the industry and redefine what’s possible through our identity verification solutions. The future is bright, and partnerships like this help us take a step forward toward achieving our vision.”
Guy Futi, Co-Founder of ORDA commented: “We are proud to have an established payments leader such as Visa be part of our growth journey. We see this investment as a mark of trust in our vision. We look forward to driving innovation together, one order at a time.”
Paul Kimani, Co-Founder and CEO of WorkPay commented: “We are happy to have Visa in our corner. As a trusted leader in digital payments, Visa’s support pushes us toward our goal of delivering innovative solutions and streamlining backend processes for all.”
Additional investments and commercial partnerships with the program’s graduates are being finalized and will be announced soon.
The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program is supported by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which offers free cloud services to cohort participants. Companies interested in Africa are invited to join and contribute to developing the next generation of fintech innovators, experiencing the transformative power of these partnerships.
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