1Min
South Africa
Nov 20, 2025
Deputy President Paul Mashatile met Visa executives at the B20 Summit where the company reaffirmed its R1 billion investment in South Africa. The commitment includes establishing the country’s first Visa data centre and expanding support for local digital and economic development.
South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile met with senior executives from Visa on the sidelines of the B20 Summit at OR Tambo House in Pretoria on Thursday. The meeting was attended by Visa Regional President for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa Tareq Muhmood, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government Affairs Bobby Thomson, and members of their delegation.
Mashatile thanked the executives for their continued engagement with South Africa and for their role in supporting the country’s digital and economic growth. “Your commitment to our country’s infrastructure development has not gone unnoticed,” he said.
The meeting confirmed Visa’s long term pledge of R1 billion to South Africa over the next three years. A central part of this investment is the establishment of the first domestic Visa data centre in South Africa and the first of its kind on the African continent. The planned data centre is expected to strengthen transaction processing capacity and improve payment reliability.
Mashatile said the government welcomed new ideas and opportunities that could boost investment. He said the partnership with Visa would support digital innovations, including digital wallets, and help empower small and medium enterprises. He said it would also contribute to strengthening township economies and enhancing youth development efforts through training and mentorship programmes.
Mashatile told the delegation that South Africa valued the collaboration. “As a government, we remain receptive to new avenues or concepts for investment, and we are committed to enhancing partnerships to augment investment in our beautiful nation,” he said.
Mashatile ended the meeting by inviting the Visa executives to the South Africa Investment Conference scheduled for March 2026. “South Africa will host the Investment Conference in March 2026 and we would like to encourage you to participate in this event as we explore further areas of investment and partnership that will benefit you as a company as well as South Africa and its people, especially the youth,” said the Deputy President.
