Visa Steps Up Contactless Payments Efforts in West Africa

By Salami Adeyinka

Visa has stepped up its expansion efforts across West Africa over the past year, according to the company’s performance disclosures, as demand for digital and contactless payment solutions continues to rise across the region.

Visa’s Q1 24 report points to increased transaction volumes, broader merchant acceptance, and stronger consumer engagement in key markets such as Nigeria and Ghana.

Company executives attribute part of this momentum to a renewed focus on localised marketing strategies and data-driven consumer engagement.

Oghenerukevwe Toka joined Visa West Africa as Marketing Manager in late 2023, a period that coincides with the expansion activity described in the company’s recent performance disclosures. And he has been involved in coordinating several of the company’s recent consumer and merchant-facing initiatives.

He is in charge of regional campaign strategy, client engagement, and market-insight development across multiple West African markets.

One of the initiatives launched under Toka’s oversight is Visa’s “Tap Lagos” campaign, introduced in early January of 2024 to promote contactless card usage in Nigeria’s major commercial districts. The campaign blended merchant onboarding, consumer education, and short-term incentives to encourage first-time tap-to-pay adoption.

According to internal performance tracking cited by Visa executives, merchant locations participating in the campaign recorded measurable increases in contactless transactions within weeks of launch, with some retail clusters reporting weekly tap activity growth of more than 30 percent.

The company, in a press statement, said the campaign also supported higher card activation rates and increased digital-payment usage among urban consumers.

Commenting on the campaign in a statement to Visa’s regional communications team, Chidozie Arinze, director at Visa West Africa, said the company has increasingly relied on marketing strategies that combine consumer insight with data analytics.

“It is increasingly rare to find marketing professionals who combine data fluency with cultural intelligence in the way Toka does,” Arinze said. “His approach reflects a modern understanding of African consumers, youthful, mobile-first, and deeply attuned to value.

“Visa’s stronger resonance in several West African markets is evidence of strategies designed with this understanding at the center,” he added.

In comments provided during a regional campaign review, Visa Nigeria Country Manager, David Okwara noted that recent marketing initiatives coordinated by Toka have strengthened engagement across both consumer and merchant segments.

“We have seen stronger response rates and clearer connections between campaign activity and usage behaviour,” he emphasised. “That has been important as competition in digital payments continues to intensify.