"Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business," Chief Executive Officer Alfred Kelly Jr said in a statement.
"It's one of our fastest growing regions," Andrew Torre, Visa's regional president for central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
The world's largest payments processor has added over 50% more employees in the continent since the end of 2019, with the vast majority during the pandemic, he added.
The investments will scale Visa's operations in Africa and deepen ties with governments, fintechs and merchants, according to the statement. It will also help "strengthen the payment ecosystem through new innovations and technologies."
The investments in Africa shine a new light on a major growth opportunity on the continent where cash is likely to be challenged in coming years as e-payments gain momentum, according to a McKinsey report in September.
Africa's booming e-payments market is expected to see revenues grow by nearly 20% a year, reaching around $40 billion by 2025, compared with about $200 billion in Latin America, the report added.
Among new technologies, the company recently rolled out Visa Acceptance Cloud, a platform which turns virtually any device into a payments terminal.
U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting dozens of African leaders for the three-day summit, which started on Tuesday in Washington.
