Per the statement, the pledge will further scale Visa’s operations in Africa and deepen collaboration with strategic partners, including governments, financial institutions, mobile network operators, fintechs and merchants.

The firm had its final close on $332 million in capital commitments for its Fund III, which invests in companies in Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The fintech that uses AI algorithms to provide financial services to African customers via an array of credit-centric products has raised $20 million in debt and equity pre-Series A financing.

With this move, WeLab is planning to launch a digital bank to capture the country’s enormous unbanked population.

Governments and startups on the continent are implementing measures to shift a greater volume of payment transactions toward mobile money and away from cash. It’s an option facilitated by the boom in fintech that’s occurred in Africa over the last decade. 

Safaricom announced that all person-to-person (P2P) transactions under KSH 1,000 (≈ $10) would be free starting Tuesday for the next 90 days.