• Visa renews its push for a partnership with the Central Bank of Congo.
• The plan focuses on innovation, financial inclusion, and support for local fintech.
• Mobile payments in the DRC are growing fast, with transactions nearing $3.85 billion.

Visa, the global digital payments company, has renewed its interest in forming a partnership with the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) to help modernize the country’s financial system. On November 20, Aminata Kane, Visa’s senior vice president for Central and West Africa, delivered a letter to BCC Governor André Wameso, signed by Visa president Oliver Jenkyn, confirming the company’s commitment.

According to a note from the BCC, the proposed cooperation would rest on three pillars. The first is the creation of the Central Bank’s Financial Innovation Center, or CIF-BCC, designed to position the Democratic Republic of Congo as a francophone hub for digital payments, market infrastructure, and fintech regulation.

The second element focuses on strengthening financial inclusion, with programs aimed at universities and the public sector to speed the adoption of modern, secure payment tools. The third centers on supporting investment in Congolese fintech firms, especially those building digital products tied to financial inclusion.

The central bank and Visa have agreed to set up joint technical teams to produce an operational roadmap in the coming days. The move follows discussions held on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in October.

Mobile payments in the DRC are expanding rapidly. The GSMA estimates that transaction value will reach $3.85 billion in 2025, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of about 19%. In this environment, Visa has been stepping up its presence through partnerships with commercial banks and fintech companies active in the country.

In September, the company launched VisaPay, an app that allows consumers to make digital payments more easily. At the same time, Visa signed a partnership with Onafriq, the pan-African digital payments network, to link VisaPay with major mobile money wallets in the DRC, including M-Pesa, Airtel Money, and Orange Money. The interoperability allows users to fund a Visa account directly from a mobile money platform and makes everyday electronic payments simpler.

Ronsard Luabeya, Bankable