‘How Visa is driving financial inclusion in Nigeria’

With the vision to be the best way to be paid by anybody, everywhere, payment platform, Visa has claimed operations in 200 countries with 3.2 billion card owners as clients.

Visa believed that this figure is still very low considering the enormous opportunities that exist in the world, especially in Africa.

Making reference to Nigeria, Visa Senior Director, Financial Inclusion, sub-Saharan Africa, Topyster Muga, said in Nigeria alone, Visa has a lot more to do to empower the about 200 million people in the country to be able to have access to financial services.

Muga, at a post-event interview in Lagos, said the payment firm was keen in keeping its brand promise, which includes empowering communities and pushing the frontiers in financial inclusion.

“Beyond keeping to our brand promise, which is reaching everyone everywhere, we want to be able to empower businesses, particularly, small businesses.

If I am selling my rice in sacks, I want to be able to sell more sacks and have more shops around. That is what we are deeply interested in, to empower these businesses.

One key thing, we are doing in that regard is to work with our client, especially the banks, so that they can offer loans to these small businesses.

We believe that by this, SMEs can grow, expand and be able to pay back loans and further grow their businesses. As they progress in that light, their family and the economy grow.”

She revealed that Visa currently works with the government at the national level on financial inclusion drive, but that there have not been any engagements at the state levels.

“There is nothing with the states at the moment. But discussion is going on how we get beyond the national level.

At the Financial Times Summit, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, talked about agriculture, reaching some of the communities that are scattered all in the country, so in those areas, we are keen on the value chain, agriculture, manufacturing because this is where you find the small business, underserved consumers.

We are keen on decentralizing to other part of Nigeria.”