Visa, Microsoft Partner To Empower Nigeria’s Fintech Ecosystem
Visa (NYSE: V), a worldwide leader in digital payments, in collaboration with Microsoft, effectively hosted the Microsoft AI Skills Week Hackathon in Lagos, Nigeria. The effort becomes part of a shared dedication to advance AI adoption and development in the monetary services sector, with a strong concentrate on compliance, digital transformation, and labor force enablement. The … The post Visa, Microsoft Partner To Empower Nigeria’s Fintech Environment appeared initially on New Telegraph.
Visa (NYSE: V), an international leader in digital payments, in partnership with Microsoft, successfully hosted the Microsoft AI Skills Week Hackathon in Lagos, Nigeria. The initiative is part of a shared dedication to advance AI adoption and development in the financial services sector, with a strong focus on compliance, digital change, and labor force enablement. The event united over 70 developers and more than 150 CIOs, CTOs, and digital transformation leaders from across Nigeria’s monetary services market. Individuals participated in a series of self-paced learning modules, live sessions, and interactive workshops focused on structure real-world, AI-powered options. As part of Microsoft’s AI Skills Week, Visa joined forces with TeKnowledge and GitHub to lead training sessions where participants checked out generative AI innovations, consisting of Azure OpenAI and Semantic Kernel. These tools enabled designers to develop intelligent, scalable applications for the fintech sector. The centerpiece of the effort was a five-hour hackathon, where teams applied Agentic AI and Microsoft Copilot to develop solutions addressing Know Your Consumer (KYC) compliance obstacles– an important need within Nigeria’s vibrant financial services environment. The top-performing groups were evaluated by a panel of fintech and AI specialists and got mentorship and possible productisation support to assist bring their ingenious ideas to market. “We are driven to support the next generation of fintech leaders in Nigeria and are proud to partner with Microsoft to catalyse technologies that are safe, inclusive, and constructed for scale,” stated Andrew Uaboi, Vice President and Cluster Head, Visa West Africa. “By empowering local talent to harness generative AI and agentic systems, we aim to reshape compliance difficulties into competitive differentiators tailored to African markets,” added Jean Yenga, Elder Supervisor, Fintech & Digital Collaborations, Visa West & Central Africa. Ola Williams, Managing Director of Microsoft Nigeria and Ghana, also stressed the broader impact of AI enablement: “The financial services industry in Nigeria stands as a beacon of development and economic development. Through AI Abilities Week and our collaboration with Visa, we are equipping developers and market leaders with the tools to lead transformative change in digital financing.” The Lagos-based hackathon highlights the strategic positioning between Visa and Microsoft in supporting Africa’s growing fintech environment. By providing hands-on experience with innovative AI tools and promoting partnership in between market and technical skill, the program is assisting form a future-ready, inclusive digital economy.
