Visa Inc to establish data center in Nigeria

Visa Inc. an American multinational payment card services corporation has announced plans to establish a data center in Nigeria, reinforcing its $1 billion investment in the country.

The corporation, stated this while updating Vice President Kashim Shettima on plans to site data centre infrastructure in Nigeria.

This is in addition to its investments of over $1 billion in the country, including a substantial technological partnership with MoniePoint to foster digital payment solutions, a $200 million investment in Interswitch, and a partnership with ThriveAgric to empower smallholder farmers and enhance food security in Nigeria.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, Office of The Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha in a statement says, that Visa’s Regional President for Central, & Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, CEMEA, Mr Andrew Torre, led a delegation of the company on a courtesy visit to Vice President Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Mr Torre said the plan to site the data centre infrastructure is aimed at bringing new technologies into the Nigerian market that would boost the nation’s growing digital economy.

Vice President Shettima applauded the US-based corporation for investing in ThriveAgriculture, noting that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is passionate about repositioning the agriculture sector, which is one of the primes in the administration’s 8-point agenda.

“Nigeria is where the action is. Of the ten fintechs in Africa, about eight are in Nigeria, with Moniepoint as the newest addition. Agriculture is key to the 8-point agenda of the present administration. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is really keen on repositioning the agriculture industry here, and we have to invest in technology, we have to invest in modernisation.”

“If we must improve on agriculture, we must embrace modernity, improve agricultural prices, seeds, fertilisation, and intermediate technology. ThriveAgriculture is a company that has a focus on food security, providing up-to-date data to our farmers. And be rest assured that the patronage, the partnership between the government of Nigeria and Visa will only grow by leaps and bounds”, the Vice President said.

The Vice President urged the international company to also invest in the Outsource to Nigeria Initiative of the federal government to help facilitate access to finance for the creative sector to boost the nation’s digital and creative economy.

Writing by Olaedo Mbiwe, Editing by Chinasa Ossai