Visa Builds First Data Centre in Johannesburg, Boosting Local Infrastructure for Tech Growth

Visa Inc. has officially launched its first data centre in Africa, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. This landmark facility marks a R1 billion (≈US$57 million) investment over three years and is part of Visa’s larger $1 billion commitment to expanding its infrastructure across the continent.

What’s Driving the Move

The Johannesburg data centre will become an integral part of VisaNet, Visa’s global processing network that handles more than 100 billion transactions annually in over 200 countries.  The goal is to reduce latency for payments, improve reliability, and better align with local regulatory requirements—especially around data localisation and financial sovereignty.

Benefits for South Africa & the Continent

• Reduced Dependency & Sovereignty: By hosting payment infrastructure locally, South Africa and its neighbours can rely less on overseas facilities, which translates to faster processing and improved resilience. Support for SME & Fintech Ecosystem: The facility is expected to boost service reliability for fintech companies, startups, and small merchants. Visa has emphasised its ongoing efforts to support SMEs, financial inclusion, and women-led ventures. Tech Innovation & AI-Readiness: This data centre is optimized for modern payment trends like contactless transactions (which already account for over 60% of face-to-face payments in South Africa), fraud detection, and other AI-powered features.

Challenges & What to Watch

While the data centre is now operational, Visa will need to ensure consistent power supply, robust cybersecurity measures, and skilled local staff to support operations. Also, keeping up with evolving data protection laws will be important.

Bottom Line

Visa’s new Johannesburg data centre isn’t just about infrastructure—it’s a strategic step to embed digital payments more deeply and securely across Africa. As the region’s fintech ecosystem grows, infrastructure like this becomes critical for performance, trust and inclusive digital growth.