By Peter Egwuatu

A leading digital payment service, Visa, has announced that it is collaborating with the Bantu Blockchain Foundation (Bantu), custodians of the Bantu Blockchain Network infrastructure, to boost Nigeria and Africa’s gig and reduce interoperability challenges,

According to Visa, the collaboration is meant to connect its digital asset-linked Visa cards to the Bantu Network Token (XBN), a utility token developed by Bantu to facilitate fast and secure transactions on the Bantu blockchain.

Furthermore, this integration is expected to significantly reduce the current friction and interoperability challenges when making payments within the continent.

This collaboration according to Visa, will be supported by a major Pan-African bank and leading Visa banking identification number (BIN) sponsor and will open up immense opportunities for increased economic activities in Africa, starting with Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and at least six other countries.

Speaking on the collaboration, Chief Operating Officer, Bantu, Victor Akoma-Philips said: “At Bantu, we believe that the right technology tools and collaborations applied to the right problem will create large-scale positive social impact. This collaboration with Visa will help to create a new Web3 social impact framework.”Also commenting, the Head of Social impact at Visa for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, said, Carl Manlan “Visa believes that greater financial knowledge can empower people to better manage their money and improve their quality of life. We are delighted to partner with Bantu to help young people learn the fundamentals of personal finance, including budgeting, saving and responsible spending.”

Visa has also entered an agreement with Bantu to embark on a Practical Money Skills program to educate at least 100,000 young people per quarter regarding key money skills.