Skip to main content

Visa-AFRAA study provides insights for African Airlines on increasing revenue, reducing fraud, improving passenger experience, and enhancing operational efficiency.

May 19, 2025, Dubai, UAE and Nairobi, Kenya: 
In the highly competitive airline marketplace, the efficiency and security of payment systems are pivotal components that can significantly impact revenue streams. This is especially critical in the African region which holds tremendous potential for growth and improvement in financial performance. As airlines strive to enhance passenger experiences and streamline operations, the maturity of their payment systems becomes a key differentiator. 

To better understand the evolving landscape of airline payments in Africa and how African airlines can drive revenue growth, reduce fraud, enhance passenger experience and improve operational efficiencies, Visa and the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) conducted an Airline Payment Maturity Index survey. The survey, which was conducted on African airlines, but not limited to AFRAA member airlines- investigated the various stages of airline payment maturity. 

The survey findings highlighted the importance of robust payment architectures and the potential financial implications of underperforming systems. Based on the Airline Payment Maturity Index questionnaire results, several priorities have emerged for the entire airline industry in Africa. Airlines must enhance their payment systems to improve efficiency, reduce fraud, and unlock new revenue opportunities through advanced payment technologies and streamlined processes.

Some highlights from the survey:
On payment architecture, African airlines are currently prioritizing compliance, which is essential for maintaining standards. However, there is an opportunity to enhance operational efficiency through modernization efforts.
 There is significant potential to leverage digital tools more effectively to improve the passenger experience. Addressing broader execution challenges can help fully utilise these tools.
While the payment approval rate is moderate, fraud management can be improved to strengthen security measures and reduce vulnerabilities.
Organizational structure and business processes provide moderate support for payment systems. Enhancing the monitoring and utilization of payment KPIs can facilitate data-driven decision-making and strategic adjustments.

“At Visa, we recognize the critical role that efficient and secure payment systems play in the airline industry, particularly in Africa where there is immense potential for growth. The findings from our survey with AFRAA underscore the need for modernization and robust fraud management to enhance operational efficiency and passenger experience. We are committed to supporting African airlines in their journey towards achieving these goals and unlocking new revenue opportunities through advanced payment technologies”, commented Michael Berner, Head of Southern and East Africa, Visa

AFRAA Secretary General, Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé remarked:
“We are pleased to have conducted the airline payments survey with Visa under the framework of AFRAA Partnership programme. The insights from the survey form important inputs for airlines’ strategic decisions on ways they can leverage enhanced payments performance to bolster revenue growth, decrease fraud, increase passenger experience and augment operational efficiency. We look forward to subsequent engagements with airlines through workshops and other avenues on specific support areas.” 

A whitepaper has been published detailing the outcomes of the survey, and a presentation will be made by Visa experts at the forthcoming Aviation Stakeholders Convention on May 12th in Kigali, Rwanda. AFRAA and Visa will also host a workshop for African airlines later this year on the same subject.  

Comments

Post a Comment

good

Popular posts from this blog

MSEA Launches Transformative Training for Micro-Enterprises Under Government of Kenya and World Bank-Backed KJET Project.

Barny Kanja, a facilitator  from  Momentrum Consulting Africa Ltd   In a classroom buzzing with the quiet focus of entrepreneurs accustomed to working with their hands, a new kind of tool was being handed out: knowledge. This week, the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA) continued with  classroom training of a transformative national project, offering a lifeline of practical skills to small business owners across Kenya.  The training started on 10th November 2025, with pilot projects bringing hope in different parts of the country. The session marks the first concrete step of the ambitious Kenya Jobs and Economic Transformation (KJET) Project , a five-year partnership (2024-2029) between the Government of Kenya and the World Bank. But for the men and women in the room, owners of small workshops, dairy cooperatives, textile producers, and fisheries, the project is more than policy. It’s a promise: to increase investment in their businesses, help them rea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Green Gold Rush: UK-Funded Forum Links African Innovators with Investors to Build a Cleaner Future.

  Nairobi, Kenya, By George Mutua. The air in Nairobi was thick with more than just the usual buzz of a city on the move today. Inside a conference hall, it crackled with the electricity of ambition and the smell of a greener future. More than 150 of Africa’s brightest green manufacturing entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders gathered for the Pan-African Green Business Building (GBB) Forum , a high-stakes meeting designed to turn climate-positive ideas into booming, job-creating businesses. Funded by the UK government through its flagship Manufacturing Africa programme, the one-day event was a vibrant marketplace of innovation. Its mission was simple but audacious: to connect the capital with the continent's most promising green startups, unlocking what research suggests could be a $2-4 billion a year market by 2030, and creating over 200,000 jobs in the process. Nairobi was the natural home for this gathering. Fresh off its crown as the continent's top destination f...
Post a Comment
Read more

KPC Foundation and eKitabu Forge a New Blueprint to Rescue Kenya’s Isolated Creatives.

  Rachel Gathoni, the Kenya Pipeline Company Managing Trustee and Foundation Manager Ngecha, Kiambu, Kenya, by George Mutua .  In the shadow of a bustling Nairobi that often races past its art, a quiet but determined revolution is taking root. At the Mlango Farm artistic community in Ngecha, a serene landscape of sustainable agriculture and deep creative history, the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Foundation has launched the  Sanaa  initiative. This is not merely another corporate social responsibility event. Instead, it is a deliberate, structured attempt to diagnose and treat the chronic isolation and market fragmentation that have long plagued Kenya's writers, visual artists, and musicians. For one day, over fifty creatives, ranging from Gen Z digital poets to veteran painters who have been wielding brushes for forty years, sat elbow-to-elbow with corporate leaders. Their mission was brutally simple yet historically elusive:  to stop creating alone and start ...
Post a Comment
Read more