American Express Expands Footprint in Africa

The American Express legacy in Africa is one of partnership and innovation. In fact, our historical footprint began in the 1890s through a partnership with the Bank of Africa, providing Travelers Cheques and other services to our global customers who visited the continent. Today, our focus is on expanding our business across Africa – adding to the places that accept American Express, launching new Cards and unlocking access to more experiences and benefits for American Express Card Members.

Our Footprint in Africa

While we’ve been in Africa for more than a century, the payments landscape across the continent has matured in recent years, and we see an opportunity to introduce greater payment choices for businesses, consumers and travelers.

The American Express network powers our presence in Sub-Saharan Africa. We license local banks and fintechs to issue American Express Cards and/or acquire merchants for American Express acceptance. Our longest-standing network partner in Africa is Nedbank, a major bank in South Africa with whom we’ve worked for more than 50 years. Nedbank issued the first American Express Card in South Africa in 1968, and they still issue our Cards locally today. Nedbank also enables merchant acceptance across South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and Zimbabwe. In addition, American Express has a presence via its licensees in East and West Africa, and the bulk of our business in North Africa is managed through our joint venture, American Express Middle East.

“We’re putting a lot of energy into Africa – investing in accelerating our growth and broadening payment choices for consumers and businesses across the continent,” said Mohammed Badi, President, Global Network Services (GNS). “Our network business is helping us expand our local presence so people who live, work, and travel to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa can use their Amex Cards, and merchants can attract business from our loyal premium and small business customer base.”

Achieving Network Vibrancy

Our goal is to achieve network vibrancy by creating a thriving ecosystem of Amex-accepting businesses and Card Members using their Cards around the world. We make that happen by working with our network licensees to add more Cards to our network and enable more businesses to accept American Express.

We recently announced an agreement with Flutterwave, a leading payment technology provider in Africa, to expand online payment acceptance. This means American Express Card Members can now make payments directly to e-commerce businesses using Flutterwave in Nigeria and will be able to do so in Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda in the near future. Another recent milestone has been our agreement with Ecobank, expanding Amex acceptance into 12 new countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and bringing our presence to a total of 42 countries in the region. 

Earlier this year, O3 Capital launched three additional consumer Cards in Nigeria along with the first-ever Amex Business Card in the country (O3 American Express® Gold Business Card), and last year, Access Bank issued the first-ever American Express Cards in Nigeria (Access Bank American Express® Gold and Platinum Cards). We’ve also added more colleague support in Africa, opening a new Amex office in Lagos, Nigeria earlier this year.

Amex Grows in the Community

Growing our footprint in Africa is about more than just expanding acceptance and rolling out our products - we are taking steps to introduce our brand by backing local artists and providing our Card Members with memorable experiences on the continent. Some recent examples include:

• Sponsorship of First Thursdays at Keyes Art Mile: Amex sponsored Johannesburg’s edition of First Thursdays in June 2024 to back South Africa’s art community, having previously sponsored the series in Cape Town’s Silo District. Card Members got special access and discounts at participating galleries, stores and select local restaurants.
• Tennis South Africa partnership & Amex Tennis Town: Through a multi-year partnership with Tennis South Africa (TSA), through Nedbank, American Express will support local communities and tennis development in the country. The partnership will also enhance the experience for our Card Members and tennis fans in South Africa. In July 2024, Amex Tennis Town, a fan park in Johannesburg during The Championships, Wimbledon 2024, reimagined the traditional viewing experience by combining live Wimbledon screenings with a range of engaging activities and a food village.
• Sponsorship of Fine Wine Awards: In June 2024, Wine-of-the-Month Club South Africa announced the winners of the first edition of the Fine Wine Awards sponsored by American Express. The Fine Wine Awards aims to become the largest listing of blind-tasted wines in South Africa and the most comprehensive guide for South African wine lovers.
• The Artist Series: Part of our effort to help Card Members feel ‘always welcome’ at businesses globally by working with global artists, we teamed up with Nedbank to host a local graphic art challenge in South Africa. The winning artwork became part of a collection of custom signage for Amex merchants to display in stores, on their websites, and share through social media.