Indonesia partners with VFS Global to introduce a streamlined digital e-VoA service, enhancing global tourism and simplifying visa applications. (Image source: VFS Global)

Indonesia and VFS Global launch a seamless digital e-VoA service to boost tourism and enhance visa application processes globally

Indonesia is aiming to attract 14 million visitors in 2024, having already welcomed 9.92 million tourists between January and August 2024. The introduction of the eVoA (Electronic Visa on Arrival) is part of the country's ongoing efforts to enhance its tourism infrastructure and services. South Africa leads in the number of tourists traveling to Indonesia from Africa.

Through VFS Global, travellers will soon enjoy a faster and more convenient visa application process, which can be completed entirely online before departure. Applicants can receive a pre-approved e-VoA by visiting the VFS Global website, submitting the necessary documents, and making the online payment. Once approved, the e-VoA will be sent directly to travellers’ email, allowing for a smoother entry experience through E-gates or immigration counters.

Silmy Karim, director general of Immigration of Indonesia, stated, “The Directorate General of Immigration offers the latest digital solutions that enhance the experience for foreign nationals who wish to visit Indonesia. In our collaboration with VFS Global, we aim to effectively contribute to increasing the arrival of foreigners, taking into account the network and digital platform owned by our partners.”

Zubin Karkaria, founder and CEO of VFS Global Group, remarked, “Indonesia is a very popular destination for travellers across the globe, and we are excited to unveil a service that will make their visa application process quicker, simpler, and much more convenient. This user-friendly and highly secure digital e-Visa on Arrival (e-VoA) service will considerably enhance the visa application experience, thereby facilitating an increase in tourism to the country. We are honoured to partner with the Directorate General of Immigration under the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia for this service."

The new e-VoA platform from VFS Global ensures that applicants’ documents are complete and error-free. It also features OCR technology to automatically populate applicant details, saving time and effort. The platform also supports group bookings, which can benefit travel trade professionals and conventions. To further enhance the process, VFS Global has partnered with Emirates to streamline the Indonesia e-Visa on Arrival (e-VoA) application service for Emirates passengers.

Teraco launches 120MW solar plant construction in Free State, leading sustainable energy efforts for data centers across South Africa. (Image source: Teraco)

Teraco, part of Digital Realty and a major provider of interconnection platforms and vendor-neutral colocation data centres, has announced the beginning of construction on a 120MW utility-scale solar PV power plant in South Africa's Free State province

In a pioneering move for data centre operators, Teraco will own this 120MW solar PV facility and transfer its renewable energy to power its data centres, marking a step toward establishing a self-sustaining energy source for next-generation cloud and AI computing needs. The plant is set to be operational by late 2026.

“Driving renewable energy infrastructure investment at a time when computing applications such as artificial intelligence are using increased power is an industry imperative. The need is even more acute in South Africa, given its electricity generation constraints and current levels of renewable energy penetration. This is a significant step toward meeting our renewable energy ambitions and those of our clients. It is also only the first phase of our longer-term renewable energy commitment, with the construction commencement marking an important milestone in what has been a long journey over the last several years, and we are now looking forward to driving the project to completion,”commented Jan Hnizdo, CEO at Teraco.

Powering Africa's future?

"In South Africa, we have various energy challenges, and this presents an incredible opportunity to support the needs of our broader community through the addition of generation capacity to our constrained grid, while meeting Teraco’s near term renewable energy objectives. This represents a unique holistic approach since Teraco plans to not only own its data centres, but also to power them with a renewable energy source, creating a sustainable path to growth. This initiative aligns with Teraco’s long-term vision of powering digital transformation across Africa. South Africa’s solar power represents a competitive advantage for data centres relative to other locations,” continued Hnizdo.

In February, Teraco secured grid capacity allocation from Eskom for the solar plant and has since worked to finalise the plant's design and the wheeling arrangements between Eskom and the municipalities of Ekurhuleni and Cape Town, where several Teraco data centres are located.

Wheeling renewable energy across power grids allows energy generated in remote locations to reach end-users in urban areas by utilising existing transmission systems, enabling renewable energy projects to be deployed in high-yield areas for optimal generation. This project, with wheeling across multiple municipalities, is a first for South Africa's renewable energy sector.

Bryce Allan, Teraco's head of sustainability, explained, “Teraco considers this project essential to achieving its renewable energy ambitions and believes it will pave the way for other municipality renewable energy wheeling projects. This will ultimately assist municipalities in attracting new investments and remaining competitive as local and international companies become increasingly sensitive to the carbon intensity of their electricity supply.”

Nium, Ecobank partner to streamline cross-border payments, reaching 32M African customers with faster, efficient international transactions. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Nium, a leader in real-time cross-border payment infrastructure, has partnered with Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, a pan-African financial services group to streamline cross-border payments, reaching 32M African customers with faster, efficient international transactions

This partnership will enable seamless cross-border payments across 35 African markets, reaching over 32 million Ecobank customers and transforming the region's payments landscape by making international transactions faster and more efficient for both businesses and consumers.

Through this collaboration, Nium’s real-time payments infrastructure will integrate into Ecobank’s existing banking systems, empowering Ecobank to deliver enhanced services, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By connecting its Swift workflows to Nium’s system, Ecobank gains real-time access to transfers, updates, clearing, settlement, and payment tracking, all without complex API integration. This integration will significantly reduce waiting times for cross-border payments, enabling faster payments to over 220 global markets, including more than 100 countries with real-time payment capabilities.

Boosting Africa’s Payments

Ecobank, a critical financial partner in sub-Saharan Africa, will now be able to offer its regional customers faster and more efficient cross-border transactions, unlocking new opportunities for SMEs to expand in global markets.

Anupam Pahuja, general manager and executive vice-president for APAC, Middle East, and Africa at Nium, expressed, “We are thrilled to partner with Ecobank and introduce Nium’s cutting-edge real-time payment capabilities to Africa. This collaboration represents an important step forward in expanding our global payments network, and we are proud to support Ecobank in delivering faster, more efficient payments for its customers across the region.”

Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Group, commented, “Partnering with Nium allows us to enhance our service offerings and provide our customers with faster, more efficient cross-border payment solutions. By leveraging our unique API-based payment platform, this collaboration is a significant step towards advancing financial inclusion and connectivity across Africa and enabling businesses to thrive in a global marketplace.”

Ecobank will exchange SwiftMT and ISO20022 messages with Nium to facilitate real-time payments, accelerating business growth and improving the speed and accuracy of cross-border transactions for African businesses.

Aligned with Nium's mission to promote global financial inclusion, this partnership enables real-time payments in regions where traditional banking systems are often slow or unreliable. With Nium's support, Ecobank can now offer an unparalleled cross-border payment experience, while Nium advances its goal of democratising access to the world’s largest real-time payments network.

Mastercard Pay Local enables seamless card payments via digital wallets, enhancing global reach for consumers and merchants alike. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Mastercard has launched Mastercard Pay Local, a global service that enables consumers to make card-based payments using local digital wallets

Mastercard cardholders can link their credit or debit cards to participating digital wallets, allowing them to shop with ease at merchants without the need for prepaid accounts or additional setups.

This service will initially roll out with leading wallets across Asia Pacific, including DANA in Indonesia, Touch ‘n Go in Malaysia, Bakong in Cambodia, and LankaPay in Sri Lanka. These wallets will enable consumers to make payments at over 35 million merchants worldwide that accept these wallets. Mastercard Pay Local is also aimed at regions where digital wallets are extensively used for everyday transactions, such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

The service builds on existing partnerships with popular wallet providers, including Alipay and Weixin Pay in mainland China and Octopus in Hong Kong SAR. This expansion allows international visitors to pay like locals when traveling, regardless of where their Mastercard card was issued.

“Mastercard continues to set new standards for the payments industry by offering global solutions that make a local impact,” said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard. “Our work with domestic networks and alternative payment methods underscores our dedication to delivering meaningful innovation. With Mastercard Pay Local, we are expanding the boundaries of acceptance.”

Currently, several digital wallets accept Mastercard to fund wallets and make payments at merchant locations, such as GrabPay in Southeast Asia, Maya in the Philippines, ShopBack in Singapore, TrueMoney in Thailand, and Mercado Pago in Argentina.

In regions like Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Mastercard is partnering with wallet and mobile operators such as MTN Fintech, Airtel Africa, JazzCash, and M-Pesa to significantly increase acceptance points for travelers and non-wallet users.