Visa launches data center in Johannesburg as part of South Africa expansion – report

Visa (NYSE:V) opened its first data center in Africa on Wednesday, according to a media report, as part of the payment network firm’s 1B rand ($57M) investment plan for South Africa.

“Visa continues to be very committed to the growth of the economy on the continent and building the data centre, which is frankly one of very few that are built outside of our core locations, which are the U.S., the UK and Singapore, is evidence of this commitment,” said Michael Berner, head of Southern and East Africa at Visa, as quoted by Reuters.

The launch of the Johannesburg-based facility comes as technological and financial advancements are set to boost Africa’s digital payments economy to $1.5T by 2030, Reuters reported, citing a Mastercard-commissioned report by Genesis Analytics.

Visa (NYSE:V) said in 2022 that it will invest $1B in Africa over five years. That includes the $57M South Africa investment.