For global payments specialists, the future lies in Africa. In this sense, the American giant Visa has just concluded a partnership with the Nigerian start-up Paga, which is developing a payment application. The agreement does not provide for investment in African society, but it is expected to generate higher payment volumes for both companies.

Founded in 2009 by Jay Alabraba and Tayo Oviosu, the start-up Paga has put into orbit a mobile payment application that allows you to make money transfers, pay for purchases at merchants or pay bills. For people who do not have mobile phones, they have the possibility to access the service via local agents positioned in kiosks. To date, the Lagos-based start-up claims more than 14 million customers in Nigeria.

Nigeria and Ethiopia, the two most populous countries in Africa 

However, the app, which is close to what Lydia does in Europe, is not limited to the Nigerian market. Indeed, the company is looking to expand its business in West Africa and beyond. In January, Paga acquired the Ethiopian company Apposit to expand in the East African country. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa with 109 million inhabitants, behind Nigeria and its 200 million inhabitants. Paga has also opened an office in Mexico to roll out its mobile payment service this year. An international expansion that reflects the start-up's ambitions to become a reference FinTech platform in emerging countries.

This approach has seduced Visa, which wants to gain ground in Africa by weaving a web of partnerships with the most promising start-ups on the continent. FinTech is currently on the rise on the other side of the Mediterranean since it is the best-funded sector of African Tech. Indeed, African FinTechs captured 41.3% of the continent's investments in 2019, or $ 836 million, according to data from the Partech Africa fund. The African financial market, and more specifically banking, represents a great opportunity. "Retail banking penetration in Africa accounts for only 38% of GDP, half the global average for emerging markets," McKinsey said in a 2018 report.

FinTech, the best-funded sector of African Tech

More than 60% of the investments made in Nigeria are concentrated in FinTech. Thus, it is not surprising that the first Nigerian unicorn is a FinTech: Interswitch. The latter manages a payment infrastructure and provides transactional services in different African countries. In November 2019, the company raised nearly $200 million from Visa. The payment card giant's rival Mastercard also has strong ambitions in Africa. Illustration last year with an investment of $ 50 million in Jumia to develop financial services through the network of customers of the African leader in e-commerce.

On an African continent where millions of people are freeing themselves from banks to make their daily expenses, it is digital, driven by the high penetration rate of mobile, that has taken over to provide financial services to the local population. A boon that Visa and Mastercard intend to fully exploit, as well as other players, such as Orange which claims 18.2 million active customers for Orange Money, its money transfer and mobile payment service launched in 2008.