Global payments technology company, Visa, will launch its Africa Integration Index in Nigeria this week, as it seeks to enhance financial inclusion and the adoption of electronic payment systems in Africa’s second-biggest economy.

The Visa Africa Integration Index measures the degree of economic integration within key trade corridors of sub-Saharan Africa: West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa.

It evaluates the extent and nature of sub-Saharan Africa’s economic connectedness amongst 11 key economies (West Africa: Ghana and Nigeria, East Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, Southern Africa: South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia) which has a combined population of 437 million people (55 percent of Africa’s total population) and is responsible for more than three-quarters of the the continent’s GDP at the end of 2012.

Commenting on the launch of the index in Nigeria, Visa’s new Group Executive for CEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, Kamran Siddiqi, said, “Visa is a strong supporter of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Cashless Lagos Vision 2020 project which aims at reducing the amount of physical cash circulating in the economy. We believe this project will help modernise the payment system which in turn will drive greater economic development.

“This was the motivation behind the recent highly successful financial literacy challenge with the co-creation hub.It was geared at stimulating the development of innovative web and mobile applications to teach money management skills and support the advancement of financial literacy in Nigeria.”

Siddiqi also revealed that Visa wants to continue to boost tourism and cross border spend.

According to Visa’s Tourism Outlook: Nigeria1 report, the country – which is also Africa’s most populous –  enjoyed a 25 percent increase in spending by international travellers who used Visa cards in 2012.