Following its 12 week engagement programme, the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme, digital payments leader, Visa has announced two new partnerships with programme participants, Konnect and PayTic.
Konnect, a fintech based in Tunisia which enables seamless, accessible, and instant payments by provisioning links that can be shared via SMS, email, messenger, or WhatsApp, and PayTic, a fintech based in Morocco which streamlines back-office operations and enhances risk control across digital payments, will also receive strategic investment from Visa following the programme participation.
These fintechs join Visa’s recent investments across its first-cohort Accelerator alumni, including:
- Oze (Ghana), which provides embedded finance products to SMEs
- Workpay (Kenya), which offers a cloud-based payroll platform
- OkHi (Nigeria), a smart addressing system that facilitates digital address verification
- ORDA, a cloud-based restaurant software company digitizing over 1,500 restaurants across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
Leila Serhan, senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan (NALP) region at Visa commented: “These innovative fintechs are a beacon of creativity and dedication, revolutionizing commerce and finance. Visa is proud to support their journey, providing essential resources, mentorship, and opportunities to drive digital transformation across Africa.”
“We at Konnect are thrilled with Visa’s continued trust in our vision of driving seamless and instant payments across Africa, empowering businesses and individuals to transact with ease and confidence. As a global leader, Visa reinforces our commitment to shaping the future of payments,” said Amin Ben Abderrahman, CEO of Konnect.
Imad Boumahdi, CEO of PayTic, said: “With Visa’s backing, we are uniquely positioned to push the boundaries of possibility in fintech, helping bolster the compliance of digital payments and streamline operations for our clients. We look forward to leveraging Visa’s deep expertise, knowledge, and resources to drive growth and impact.”
Growing partnerships
Visa has also announced its strategic partnership with Chari (Morocco) a B2B platform with embedded fintech solutions designed for mom-and-pop shops. The partnership will focus on supporting SME digitisation in Morocco and North Africa to drive digital acceptance and issuance.
Ismael Belkhayat, CEO and co-founder of Chari, commented: “Partnering with Visa will significantly enhance our financial services for merchants. By bringing Visa’s leading acceptance and payment capabilities to the thousands of merchants across North Africa, we are poised to drive digital transformation and growth in the region.”
Following GITEX Africa 2025
This announcement follows Visa’s participation as the Financial Innovation Partner at GITEX Africa 2025, taking place from April 14-16 in Marrakech, Morocco. Concluding the third cohort of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme on the GITEX 10X Stage on 15 April, Visa brought together 19 fintechs from across the continent to showcase their solutions to an audience of venture capitalists, angel investors, and business partners.
Representing the third cohort of the Accelerator programme, the start-ups comprised dynamic and next-gen Pan-African innovators operating across 21 African nations. They featured 85 per cent female leadership, marking a substantial increase from less than 50 per cent in the inaugural edition and 65 per cent in the second, progress which Visa is committed to continuing.
The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator is a comprehensive three-month programme designed to support Seed to Series A startups by offering one-on-one mentorship, training, and exclusive opportunities for funding and partnership, aligning with Visa’s commitment to invest $1billion in Africa by 2027. Since its launch in 2023, this initiative has accelerated over 60 startups, with the fourth cohort set to be announced on 2 June, 2025.
Culminating in Demo Day, where participants had the opportunity to unveil their solutions to an audience of influential ecosystem enablers, the programme opens the door to future strategic collaborations and growth avenues through valuable exposure and visibility.
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