Inside American Express's big push into SA and its neighbours

American Express will soon be available in 42 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, thanks to a recent partnership with Togo-headquartered Ecobank.

The card payments company, also known as Amex, is currently available in 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and is available in South Africa through a 50-year partnership with Nedbank, which has a 21.2% stake in Ecobank. The partnership with Ecobank will now boost its Pan-African footprint by a further 12 nations, namely Burundi, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Gambia, Sierra Leone and Togo.

"We're really pushing to grow into new markets and then, of course, to increase our presence once we get there," Briana Wilsey, vice-president and general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa of American Express’ Global Network Services unit, told News24 in an interview. "We want to grow — there's so much potential across so many of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Our aspiration is to grow, and the first thing is to make sure that we have as much acceptance as possible."

In South Africa, all Amex cards are issued by Nedbank, which is also responsible for onboarding new merchants and getting them to accept the card. South Africa also continues to be the most significant market for Amex in sub-Saharan Africa, and it is pushing to get wider acceptance in this market.

"In the last couple of years, there's been a step change in the number of merchants accepting Amex in South Africa," she said. "Nedbank has been working really hard to go out and speak to merchants across the country, from the very smallest to the very largest, to get them signed up and taking the card."



No definitive sticking point

Decathlon and Leroy Merlin started accepting Amex last year and the branded cards can be used to buy fuel, groceries or even a Gautrain ticket. Wilsey said there is no definitive sticking point obstructing greater adoption of Amex by merchants in South Africa other than legacy and a lack of familiarity.

As part of its increased focus on South Africa and the rest of African market, Amex is looking to host more unique local events and support community-focused projects to attract new clients. An example is First Thursdays at the Keys Art Mile in Johannesburg.

Amex cards can be used at 89 million merchants globally across almost 200 countries and territories. In addition, Amex has more than 140 million cards in circulation globally.

While Wilsey is reluctant to provide figures for Africa, she said the brand has a strong presence in East Africa and is making rapid inroads into Nigeria. Equity Bank is a key partner in East Africa, where Amex is available in several markets, including Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. In Nigeria, Amex has two issuing partners - Access Bank and O3 Capital, a fintech - which started issuing Amex cards in May.

"I’m also super excited about Nigeria," Wilsey said. "It's a huge economy that is really exciting, complex and dynamic. We've just recently opened an office in Lagos, so we're in growth mode there."



- FIN24