Technology
Visa Launches Africa Fintech Accelerator Programme
By Adedapo Adesanya
Visa has announced the launch of the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program to help enable the continent’s expanding start-up community through expertise, connections, technology, and investment funding.
In a statement shared with Business Post, it was disclosed that the initiative was introduced by Visa Executive Chairman, Mr Alfred F. Kelly Jr., at Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa in Marrakech, Morocco.
The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator will enable up to 40 start-ups each year to accelerate and grow through a three-month intensive learning program focused on business growth and mentoring.
Following the programme completion, Visa intends to further support fintech growth with capital investment in select participating businesses while accelerating their commercial launch through access to Visa technology and capabilities.
The launch of the Africa Fintech Accelerator program follows Visa’s recent pledge to invest $1 billion in Africa’s digital transformation and its long-term commitment to advancing Africa’s economies and driving inclusive growth.
Fintech startups throughout Africa can apply to be part of the program through two application phases each year, starting from July 2023. With more than 1,000 Africa Fintech start-ups taking part in the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) competition in 2022, finalists from African country editions this year will be invited to join the accelerator program.
Speaking on this, Mr Kelly Jr., Executive Chairman of Visa, said, “Africa has one of the most exciting and admired fintech ecosystems in the world, bringing outstanding entrepreneurial talent to a young digital-first population that is growing fast.
“Visa has been increasing our investments in Africa for decades and strengthening partnerships throughout the continent to support the next wave of innovation and growth. Our new Fintech Accelerator will bring expertise, connections, and investment to Africa’s best fintech start-ups so they can grow at scale.”
The support for participating fintechs will help further strengthen the payment ecosystem by fast-tracking new innovations and technologies that provide solutions to challenges that are unique to the African continent and which can further advance Africa’s digitization.
This, the company said, is in line with Visa’s corporate purpose to uplift everyone, everywhere, by being the best way to pay and be paid and supports Africa’s fintechs to facilitate additional opportunities to expand financial inclusion.
According to Mr Otto Williams, Head of Partnerships, Products, and Solutions, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa, “Africa’s fintech community is at the forefront of payments innovation and connecting more of the unbanked with access to the digital economy.
“Visa has been working with this innovative community to create new programs and solutions to help fintechs scale while giving access to Visa’s technology and partner ecosystem. Through the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator, we are looking forward to working with more brilliant entrepreneurs and companies to shape the future of money.”
In addition to its $1 billion pledge to Africa, Visa has recently introduced several business initiatives and programs to further advance the payments ecosystem in Africa.
These include the establishment of local operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Sudan to help support and strengthen the local financial ecosystem. Visa has 10 offices across Africa from which it supports payments in all 54 countries.
It also unveiled the first dedicated Visa Sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Studio in Nairobi, Kenya, to provide a state-of-the-art environment to bring together clients and partners to co-create future-ready payment and commerce solutions as well as the introduction and expansion of new technologies that help African consumers and merchants make and receive digital payments, such as Tap to Phone to turn a simple mobile phone into a point-of-sale terminal, as well as lowering remittance costs through innovative solutions like Visa Direct.
The firm also established Visa as the fintech partner of choice, working with innovators and entrepreneurs, including through the Visa Everywhere Initiative program, with dedicated country programmes in South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt.
It has launched new programmes to support women’s empowerment together with financial partners, including She’s Next, which is bringing funding, mentoring, and networking opportunities to female entrepreneurs leading growing SMBs in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa and collaborated with partners, to advance financial literacy in several languages, including localized versions of Practical Money Skills in Egypt and Morocco for the first time.
Choosing between a VPS and a dedicated server can be complex. They run apps and webpages. But they operate differently. Understanding the difference between VPS and dedicated server solutions will help you prevent complications and save money later on. In this text we will explain everything in detail with examples from actual life.
VPS vs Dedicated Server: What Actually Sets Them Apart
One physical machine is divided into multiple virtual servers by a VPS. Through virtualization software, each user receives a portion of resources that are separate from those of other users.
A dedicated server operates in a different manner. One user owns a single physical machine. No neighbors, no sharing, simply complete hardware access.
This is the core of the vps vs dedicated server debate. Shared hardware means lower costs, while full ownership means more raw power. Finding the best vps hosting service often comes down to how well a provider balances performance with fair pricing on shared resources.
| Factor | VPS | Dedicated Server |
| Resource allocation | Shared pool, virtualized | 100% dedicated hardware |
| Performance consistency | Possible noisy neighbor effect | Guaranteed, stable capacity |
| Scalability | Instant resize | Requires hardware upgrade or migration |
| Cost | Lower entry price | Higher fixed cost |
Performance, Cost and Control: Where Each One Wins
In terms of raw performance, dedicated servers are superior. Each gigabyte of RAM and each CPU cycle are part of a single project. There is no competition for resources.
Flexibility is where VPS excels. It takes minutes, not days, to scale up. Pricing stays lower too, since costs get split across multiple users on the same hardware.
Shared hardware limitations rarely cause problems for smaller projects. Providers like Antihost allocate resources fairly, so performance stays steady even during traffic spikes. The gap only really matters once traffic gets heavy and consistent.
The contrast of vps vs virtual machine is also confusing people often. A VPS is a virtual computer in a technical sense, but it’s rented from a hosting company, rather than running on your own hardware.
Matching the Server to the Project: Real Scenarios
A dedicated server is rarely required for a small business website. A VPS can easily manage moderate traffic while maintaining low expenses.
A growing SaaS product usually starts on a VPS and expands as the user base grows. This adaptability is more crucial in the early stages than brute strength.
A database-heavy application benefits from dedicated hardware once query volume reaches a certain level. In this case, the lack of resource sharing and a constant disk speed are essential.
A game server depends on low latency and steady performance. Many game servers run fine on VPS today, especially with modern hardware. As David Heinemeier Hansson put it: “Personal servers have gotten really scarily quick, inefficient, and personal internet connections rival what we connected data centers with just a decade or two ago.” That shift makes VPS a stronger option than it used to be.
Here is a quick breakdown of what typically fits best:
- Small business website: VPS, for cost and simplicity
- Growing SaaS product: VPS, then scale to dedicated later
- Database-heavy app: Dedicated server, for consistent speed
- Game server: VPS, unless player counts get very large
Summary
In every situation, neither choice is superior to the other. Everything impacts the optimal selection, including the scale of the project, traffic patterns, and all growth plans. Scale from what works now when the numbers really demand it.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Aminu Maida, has reemphasised the need to protect the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure, especially fibre networks, noting that damage to fibre networks carries significant economic consequences.
Speaking virtually at the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Critical Conversation Forum on Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) in Lagos recently, he described FTTH as a critical enabler of Nigeria’s digital future.
“FTTH is uniquely positioned to meet Nigerians' next phase of data demand. The quality of our broadband will increasingly shape the competitiveness of our businesses, the growth of our digital industry and the opportunities available to our citizens,” the NCC chief stated.
“We must uphold deployment standards. Nigeria needs fibre that is properly installed, properly documented, and properly protected,” Mr Maida further said at the event themed Fibre to the Home in Nigeria: Addressing Challenges, Strengthening Standards and Ensuring Sustainable Deployment.
During a panel discussion titled Policy, Governance and Regulatory Alignment, the Deputy Director of Strategic Business Initiatives at ipNX, Mr Segun Okuneye, highlighted the need for stronger collaboration across the telecommunications ecosystem to unlock the full potential of fibre broadband in Nigeria.
According to him, sustainable fibre deployment extends beyond technology and investment to include policy consistency, stakeholder alignment, infrastructure protection, and shared responsibility.
“Achieving universal fibre connectivity requires more than deploying infrastructure; it requires sustained collaboration between operators, regulators, government agencies and host communities.
“When policies are aligned, deployment standards are consistently enforced, and critical infrastructure is protected, we create an environment where investment thrives and more Nigerians can enjoy reliable, high-speed broadband.
“At ipNX, we remain committed to working with all stakeholders to build resilient digital infrastructure that will support Nigeria’s economic growth for generations to come.”
Earlier in his welcome address, ATCON President, Mr Tony Emoekpere, underscored the strategic importance of FTTH in achieving the country’s broadband penetration targets while calling for greater public awareness around protecting communications infrastructure.
“This forum is critical because Fibre-to-the-Home is the technology that will enable the country to achieve full broadband penetration. We all depend on communication infrastructure, and it must be protected,” he declared.
Drawing a comparison with power infrastructure in the country, he added, “If somebody comes to your neighbourhood to tamper with your transformer or power cables, everybody will come out. The same thing needs to apply for communications infrastructure. When we see people damaging fibre cables, we should raise an alarm.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Thursday, July 23, 2026, provided an opportunity for financial services professionals to converge on Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, to brainstorm on ways to meet the rising customers’ expectations.
The platform used for this purpose was Core by Interswitch. It is part of the company’s broader commitment to strengthening Africa’s digital payments ecosystem by fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing and operational excellence across the financial services value chain.
At the event, participants, numbering over 400, also highlighted the growing importance of operational excellence in sustaining resilient payment infrastructure.
As digital financial services continue to expand across Africa, closer collaboration among financial institutions, fintechs and payment service providers will be essential to improving responsiveness, resolving operational challenges more effectively and delivering consistently reliable customer experiences.
The Executive Vice President for Operations and Technology at Interswitch, Mr Babafemi Ogungbamila, said the forum reflects the company’s belief that exceptional customer experiences are built not only on innovative technology but also on the expertise, collaboration and commitment of the professionals who keep payment systems running every day.
“Every successful digital transaction is powered by professionals whose work often goes unseen but is fundamental to building trust in digital payments. Core by Interswitch was created to recognise their contribution, strengthen collaboration across the industry and create opportunities for shared learning that ultimately benefit financial institutions and the customers they serve.
“As digital payments continue to evolve, investing in the people and processes that power the technology is just as important as investing in the technology itself,” Mr Ogungbamila said.
Beyond recognising the professionals whose work often goes unnoticed, the programme underscored the value of creating stronger connections across the payments ecosystem.
By creating a dedicated platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration and professional development, Core by Interswitch aims to build a more connected community of payments operations professionals equipped to respond to the evolving demands of the digital economy.
