In a major step toward bolstering West Africa’s digital infrastructure, Visa Inc. officially pledged in March 2025 to establish a state-of-the-art data center in Nigeria. This announcement, made by Visa’s CEMEA Regional President Andrew Torre during a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima, marks a shift toward localizing data processing to reduce latency and enhance “data sovereignty” for Nigerian financial transactions. The project complements Visa’s existing $1 billion investment in the country, which includes significant stakes in local fintech leaders like Interswitch and Moniepoint.

As of early 2026, the facility is designed to introduce “frontier” payment technologies and support high-growth sectors like agriculture. This is specifically through partnerships with ThriveAgric while positioning Nigeria as the primary fintech hub for the continent.

Such data center projects in African countries show how the continent is gearing up its efforts to catch up in the global data center development wave that is being currently experienced. North America’ US and European countries such as Portugal and France have also joined the competitive race of developing data centers in bid to catch up with AI demands.

July 2, 2025

The vice president of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima has just welcomed a big investment pledge from Visa Inc. as the global payment solution seeks to establish Visa’s Nigeria Data Center infrastructure in the West African country which will be a major boost for Africa’s data center infrastructure.

During a courtesy visit paid to State House in Abuja on Friday, the Regional President of Visa for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) Mr Andrew Torre, reaffirmed the commitment of the company to the general Nigerian market.

Visa’s Nigeria Data Center Factsheet

Investment and expansion:

• Visa Inc. is expanding its investment in Nigeria, which already exceeds $1 billion.
• This expansion includes the establishment of a data center.
• This data center aims to introduce new technologies that will strengthen Nigeria’s growing digital economy.

Strategic partnerships:

Visa has established significant partnerships, including:

• A technological partnership with MoniePoint to enhance digital payment solutions.
• A $200 million investment in Interswitch.
• A collaboration with ThriveAgric to support smallholder farmers and improve food security.

Government support:

• The Nigerian government, particularly Vice President Kashim Shettima, has expressed strong support for Visa’s investments.
• The government recognizes the importance of these investments in advancing Nigeria’s digital economy and agricultural sector.
• The government has also requested that visa consider investing in the “Outsource to Nigeria Initiative”.

Significance of the data centre:

• The data center is intended to bring advanced technologies to the Nigerian market.
• Visa’s initiatives are focused on bolstering the nation’s digital economy and contributing to its economic growth.
• Visa’s investments also are meant to help with the modernization of the agricultural sector within Nigeria

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Additionally, he also highlighted that Visa has already invested more than $1 billion in the country. This is inclusive of a $200 million stake in Interswitch, which is a strategic partnership with MoniePoint to enhance the digital payment solutions. Additionally, it entails a collaboration with ThriveAgric to support the small scale farmers and boost the country’s food security .

Furthermore, the Nigerian Vice President also urged Visa Inc to put more investment in the Outsource to Nigeria Initiative of the federal government to assist in the facilitation of the access to funds for the creative sector. This will be a major boost for the country’s digital and creative economy.

Also read: MTN Nigeria is Building West Africa’s largest data centre