Direct Pay Online and Visa invest in the education of e-commerce in Africa

• Direct Pay Online and Visa introduce innovative educational workshops for Strathmore University Information Technology students to encourage e-commerce in Africa
• The workshops are designed to increase the development and awareness of e-commerce and online payments integration
• Participants who develop their own e-commerce sites will have access to support from the Direct Pay Online Group and a reward programme for the first ten months of trading

Nairobi, Kenya 16 March 2017 – The Direct Pay Online Group, (DPO Group), the leading online payments service provider in East and Southern Africa, in partnership with Visa, announced today an innovative partnership with the Faculty of Information Technology at Strathmore University to provide a much needed e-commerce educational series to help support a 21st century workforce in Africa. The initiative, ‘10×10’, provides a series of workshops which will provide free skills development in e-commerce and online payments, enabling innovation and development in this arena.

The workshops are designed to provide the students with the skills to build an e-shop and connect it to the online payments solution, for successful e-commerce environments. The DPO Group and Visa will provide support and a rewards programme for the developers where they will share 10% from all payments transactions from a website built by the developers and connected to the DPO payments solution for the first ten months.

“The DPO Group sees effective, high level e-commerce education as a key to the economic vitality in Africa. Through access to education, our knowledge and support, we will enable vital skills development,” said Eran Feinstein, the DPO Group CEO. “We want to support the professionalisation of the online payments industry, which in turn will yield better service to online merchants and better uptake of e-commerce services.”

“Developing successful e-commerce sites takes specialist skills,” added Feinstein. “Those who sign up for the programme will get access to free technical support and access to a simple payments service platform which is safe and secure.”

“Strathmore University is committed to establishing collaborations that challenge the way students think and help better prepare them for the job market—while at the same time enabling them to deliver cutting-edge solutions that were previously thought to be a preserve of international organizations. For the youth in Africa to be able to benefit from an e-commerce future, there needs to be a much higher level of digital literacy,” said Dr. Joseph Orero, Dean, Faculty of Information Technology, Strathmore University. “We are delighted to partner with DPO Group, with this initiative, we will enhance the skills-set of our students for the much needed for e-commerce in Africa, and increase the number of entrepreneurs and would be entrepreneurs to grow businesses around new solutions.”

While commenting on the partnership, Delaine Patrick, Visa’s Head of Merchant Sales and Solutions, Sub Sahara Africa, said, “At its core, Visa is a technology company and we are constantly evolving to provide immersive, collaborative and localized experiences for our clients and partners in this region. We think this partnership with Direct Pay Online Group and Strathmore University is an ideal one that brings our collaborative approach to life through the innovative educational workshops with the aim of encouraging e-commerce in Africa.”

The 10×10 programme aims to equip young developers with sought after e-commerce skills over the next two years and the partnership with Strathmore University is the launching platform. This will enable the expansion of the imitative across the continent.

About Direct Pay Online Group

The DPO Group (www.directpay.online) is the leading payments service provider in Africa. It serves thousands of online merchants in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania (including Zanzibar), Ethiopia and Zambia, including leading travel and tourism-related businesses in the region. The Group in September 2016 acquired PayGate (www.paygate.co.za) in South Africa.

The Group accepts all major credit cards, mobile money and e-wallets, and is a leader in technology, usability and security across the region. It is currently the only Payment Service Provider in East Africa holding PCI DSS Level 1 Certification, the highest security certification in the payment cards industry, ensuring high levels of safety, security and data privacy. The Group is leading the way in digital payments in the region, and recently introduced a mobile application that enables merchants to process payments through their mobile phones using a mobile Point of Sale device.

Media contacts

DPO Group, Kate Gathii, kate@directpay.online