American Express Co. has launched its first business credit card in Nigeria in partnership with local neobank O3 Capital Nigeria Limited, which could improve access to dollar transactions in the West African country.
O3 Capital and Amex launched their most recent product in Lagos on Thursday.
The business card has a $10,000 spending limit and allows up to 45 days for repayment of international transactions.
In a statement, Mohammed Badi, President of Global Network Services at Amex, said, “Introducing the inaugural American Express Business Card in Nigeria, the most populous African country, provides us with another avenue to support local businesses in their growth efforts.
He stated, “American Express is eager to continue strengthening its presence in Nigeria and expanding across Africa.”
Other O3 Capital-Amex cards for personal and household use will have spending limits ranging from $10,000 to $20,000.
Badi also mentioned that Amex intends to extend its presence in Africa to 42 countries, up from the current 30, due to growing demand from consumers and small businesses for the company’s cards.
Nigeria has long grappled with a local shortage of dollars, contributing to occasional sharp fluctuations in the naira, which has depreciated by 65% against the greenback since foreign-exchange reforms in mid-2023.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has made efforts to attract foreign investors to increase dollar inflows and is urging banks to independently source the greenback to alleviate demand pressures.
However, they can be difficult to find. Most of the country’s banks have ceased or limited the use of naira credit cards for international payments and have restricted card issuance to affluent customers.
The CEO of O3 Capital Nigeria Limited, Abimbola Pinheiro, stated that the O3-Amex card “addresses the issue of queuing at banks for business travel allowance and personal travel allowance.
Pinheiro indicated that “O3 intends to issue 16,000 American Express cards by the end of 2024 and expand the offering to approximately one million cards over the next five years.
“It also plans to offer them in other markets including Rwanda, Congo, and Ghana, where it aims to issue Amex cards by the end of 2025.”
