- Accelerator Cohort 3 culminated with Demo Day at GITEX Africa 2025, following 3 months of training, mentorship, and networking.
- Visa’s strategic investment and commercial partnerships with Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator alumni showcase ongoing commitment to their success.
Visa, a global leader in digital payments, has announced strategic investments and commercial partnerships with two fintech startups following their participation in the 12-week Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator Program, which aims to empower startups to scale through training, mentorship, and networking opportunities.
Visa’s investments include Konnect, a Tunisia-based fintech company that offers seamless and instant payment solutions via shareable links sent through SMS, email, or messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
Visa has also invested in PayTic, a Morocco-based fintech that streamlines back-office operations and strengthens risk management in digital payments.
Officials’ Statements
Leila Serhan, Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager for North Africa, Levant, and Pakistan at Visa, stated:
“These innovative startups are a source of inspiration through their creativity and dedication, bringing transformation to the world of commerce and finance,Visa is proud to support their journey by providing essential resources, mentorship, and empowerment opportunities to accelerate digital transformation across Africa.”
Amin Ben Abderrahman, CEO of Konnect, said:
“We at Konnect are thrilled by Visa’s continued trust in our vision of facilitating instant and seamless payments across Africa,Our goal is to empower businesses and individuals to transact with ease and confidence, and Visa’s support reinforces our commitment to shaping the future of payments.”
Imad Boumahdi, CEO of PayTic, also commented:
“With Visa’s backing, we are uniquely positioned to push the boundaries of innovation in fintech, enhance compliance in digital payments, and streamline operations for our clients,We look forward to leveraging Visa’s deep expertise and resources to fuel growth and create lasting impact.”
Konnect and PayTic join the list of Visa’s previous investments in graduates from the first cohort of the Accelerator program, including:
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Oze (Ghana): Offers embedded finance solutions for SMEs.
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Workpay (Kenya): Provides a cloud-based payroll management platform.
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OkHi (Nigeria): A smart addressing system that simplifies digital address verification.
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ORDA: A cloud-based restaurant software company serving over 1,500 restaurants across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
Visa also announced a strategic partnership with Chari (Morocco), a B2B platform offering embedded fintech solutions for small convenience stores.
The partnership will focus on supporting SME digitization in Morocco and North Africa to enhance digital payment acceptance and issuance services.
Ismael Belkhayat, CEO and Co-founder of Chari, said:
“This partnership with Visa will significantly boost our financial services for merchants. With Visa’s leading capabilities in payment acceptance, we are positioned to drive digital transformation and achieve significant growth across the region.”
GITEX Africa 2025 Highlights
This announcement coincides with Visa’s participation as the Financial Innovation Partner at GITEX Africa 2025, held in Marrakech, Morocco, from April 14–16. On April 15, during the second day of the event, Visa concluded the third cohort of the Africa Fintech Accelerator Program at the GITEX 10X Stage, where 19 fintech startups from across the continent presented their innovative solutions to an audience of investors, entrepreneurs, and potential partners.
The startups in the third cohort represented a dynamic group of next-generation African innovators from 21 countries.
Notably, 85% of the participating companies were led by women—up from less than 50% in the first cohort and 65% in the second—a milestone Visa is committed to continuing.
The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator is a comprehensive three-month program designed to support startups from Seed to Series A stages, offering personalized mentorship, training, and exclusive opportunities for funding and partnerships.
This program is part of Visa’s commitment to invest $1 billion in Africa by 2027. Since its launch in 2023, the initiative has supported over 60 startups, with the fourth cohort set to be announced on June 2, 2025.
The program culminates in Demo Day, where participants present their solutions to a high-profile audience of ecosystem enablers, opening the door to strategic collaborations and future growth opportunities.
