Visa Opens Applications for Sixth Africa Fintech Accelerator Cohort After $1.4 Billion Valuation Milestone
The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator supports African fintech startups developing payment and digital financial services. Significant gaps in access to financial services remain across the continent, and Visa's continued investment in the local ecosystem could help startups secure resources and expand their market reach.
As of July 20, 2026, Visa had opened applications for the sixth cohort of its Africa Fintech Accelerator, inviting African companies to apply after startups associated with the program surpassed a combined valuation of $1.4 billion. The latest cohort will continue to focus on payment innovation and digital finance while supporting product growth and commercial partnerships.
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The history behind this eventVisa Partners With _able, Onafriq to Expand African Credit Access
Debit and prepaid card adoption has expanded across Africa, but access to formal credit has continued to lag, leaving many existing cardholders without borrowing options tied to their accounts. Visa Flex Credential allows issuers to combine multiple funding sources on a single card, giving financial institutions a way to add credit to established debit or prepaid products without issuing a separate credential or rebuilding their technology systems.
Visa said on Aug. 20, 2026, it had partnered with credit-infrastructure provider _able and pan-African payments company Onafriq to bring those capabilities to existing card portfolios. Onafriq will process eligible prepaid-card implementations and connect participating institutions to a network reaching about 1 billion mobile wallets and 500 million bank accounts across Africa. _able will supply a unified platform supporting credit and savings products across multiple processing environments.
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