Visa’s Michael Berner, group country manager of Southern and Eastern Africa, outlines the future of stablecoins, digital payments, financial inclusion and how AI is fueling the rise of agentic commerce. #visa #agenticai
Stablecoins will have a transformational outcome for Africa’s financial services ecosystem, especially for those countries struggling with the availability of foreign currency.
So said Michael Berner, group country manager of Southern and Eastern Africa at Visa, speaking to ITWeb on the sidelines of the recently-held Visa Payments Forum.
The 2026 Visa Payments Forum for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region was hosted in Paris earlier this month, bringing together regional partners to unpack the future of payments, as well as outline new financial service offerings.
Michael Berner, group country manager of Southern and Eastern Africa at Visa.
Berner highlighted the key trends the digital payments firm is witnessing in Africa, signalling stablecoins, digital payments, artificial intelligence (AI), new entrants operating in the financial services ecosystem, and financial inclusion as taking centre stage.
He added that agentic commerce is set to be the next boom of the AI wave.
Berner said Africa continues to witness an accelerated digitisation of payments. “We see more payments becoming cashless, driven by governments, financial institutions as well as demand from Gen Z. Making payments seamless, ‘invisible’ and protected from fraudulent incidents is critical.”
For some nations, foreign reserves are a big challenge, he stated.
Therefore, by bringing the stablecoin concept and exploring it across the continent, it improves the chances to execute financial inclusion, Berner stated.
“More people would be financially included. We are already hearing that in Kenya and a few other countries, for example, there is growing demand for stablecoin-related products, such as stablecoin-backed cards and for settlements in stablecoins.”
At the same event, Visa group president for global markets Oliver Jenkyn said he expects lots to playout in the blockchain and stablecoins space, albeit in the early stages.
Visa is looking to be the bridge between the crypto, stablecoin and fiat currency worlds, Jenkyn noted.
Visa shared progress in modernising settlement and value transfer through stablecoins and blockchain-based infrastructure.
With Tokenised Deposits, the company plans to build a technology layer that can allow banks to turn traditional deposits into programmable, always-on digital money. This will allow banks to match the speed and flexibility of stablecoins, while keeping funds on balance sheets.
Visa is also expanding stablecoin settlement pilots across multiple regions, blockchains and currencies. Building on its first stablecoin settlement pilots in early 2025, Visa revealed it has moved billions of dollars in stablecoins across VisaNet, with an annualised run rate of approximately $7 billion as of March 2026.
Since launch of stablecoins settlement capabilities a year ago in CEMEA, settlement volumes have increased nearly 60 times, Visa noted.
Data shows stablecoin transactional volumes reached $33 trillion globally in 2025. (Image created
Stablecoins have become a major focus for governments, banks and payment companies because of their potential to transform digital payments.
Data insights indicate stablecoin transactional volumes reached $33 trillion globally in 2025, representing a 70% year-on-year increase.
In Africa, Nigeria and South Africa are recorded as leading the charge with the fastest adoption rate, as transactions surge across the continent.
This is based on the 2026 Stablecoin Utility Report, compiled by YouGov on behalf of fintech firm BVNK. The study, conducted in partnership with Coinbase and Artemis, surveyed over 4 600 early adopters and crypto-natives in 15 countries across five continents.
According to the report, people are turning to stablecoins to move money more quickly, securely and affordably – and how this shift in behaviour is becoming a worldwide trend beyond its roots in the Global South.
Stablecoin adoption is accelerating particularly rapidly across Africa in 2026, driven by currency volatility, high inflation and the need for cheaper, faster cross-border payments, it finds.
The Stablecoin Utility Report shows that 79% of African respondents hold stablecoins − the highest ownership rate globally − while 76% say they intend to acquire them in the near future.
Nigeria and SA lead the continent in everyday stablecoin spending, highlighting a shift from holding digital dollars as a store of value, to actively using them for commerce.
The appetite to be paid in stablecoins is even stronger: 95% expressed interest in receiving incomee work or cross-border services, according to the study
