Visa Establishes Its First Africa Data Centre in Johannesburg

Visa capitalised on the rapid growth of digital payments in the emerging economy by opening its first data centre in Africa on Wednesday, according to company executives, in South Africa.

The facility is part of a $1 billion ($57 million) investment in South Africa over the next three years, according to Michael Berner, head of Visa’s Southern and East Africa division, who spoke at the opening. The data centre, situated in Johannesburg, received investments totalling about R1 billion ($56.9 million).

“Visa continues to be very committed to the growth of the economy on the continent and building the data centre, which is frankly one of very few that are built outside of our core locations, which are the U.S., the UK and Singapore, is evidence of this commitment,” Berner stated.

According to the corporation, the Johannesburg data centre is a major extension of VisaNet, the company’s worldwide processing network that facilitates more than 100 billion transactions a year in 200 countries and territories.

A 2025 Mastercard-commissioned report by Genesis Analytics projects that Africa’s digital payments economy will reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, driven by swift improvements in internet penetration and financial inclusion.

According to Berner, contactless transactions currently make up more than 60% of in-person payments in South Africa. 

Berner added that Visa would be able to leverage “emerging technologies,” such generative AI, in payment services thanks to the data centre.

“South Africa is truly a digital leader and innovation on this continent when we look at it. Therefore, having this data centre here can serve as a springboard for solutions that we implement around the continent,” stated Lineshree Moodley, Visa South Africa’s country manager.

On the side-lines of the event, Moodley told Reuters that the $1 billion investment was a component of a five-year, $1 billion investment in Africa that was announced in 2022.

Solly Malatsi, the minister of communications, praised the data center, saying it “reduces the reliance on overseas infrastructure and boosts our national financial sovereignty” and demonstrated confidence in South Africa as an investment destination.

There are no details available regarding the data centre’s size, capacity in megawatts, or precise location. For more details, DCD has been in touch with Visa. 

Visa said earlier this year that it would be building a data centre in Nigeria. There were very little details available concerning that data centre, and DCD never heard back from anyone who asked to comment.

Two of Visa’s four data centres are located in the United States, one in the United Kingdom, and one in Singapore. In 2017, the data centres in Singapore and the UK were first revealed. Visa declared in 2022 that it would run its data centre in Virginia entirely on solar power.

Johannesburg is home to the majority of South Africa’s data centres. Among the operators in the area are Teraco, MTN, Africa Data Centres, Equinix, and NTT. The latter just finished building the nation’s eighth data centre.