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INTERSWITCH Limited and Visa Inc. world leader in digital payments, yesterday announced a strategic part- nership that will further advance the digital payments ecosystem across Africa.
As part of the agreement, Visa will acquire a significant minority equity stake in Interswitch. The investment makes Interswitch one of the most valuable African Fin-Tech businesses with a valuation of $1 billion. Visa will join globally renowned investors, Helios Investment Partners, TA Associates and IFC, as shareholders in Inter- switch, alongside Company management.
Founded in 2002, Interswitch disrupted the traditional cash-based payments value chain in Nigeria by introduc- ing electronic payments processing and switching ser- vices. Today, it has emerged a leading player in Nigeria’s developing financial ecosystem with omni-channel capa- bilities across the payments value chain, processing over 500 million transactions per month in May 2019.
In 2018, electronic payments in Africa accounted for only 12 per cent of transactions by volume, compared to 54 per cent in Europe and 79 per cent in North America. Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest-growing digital pay- ments market in the world, with electronic payment volume expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 35 per cent from 2018 to 2023 in the region (excluding South Africa).
