Mastercard to Invest $50M to Further Financial Inclusion in Africa

Mastercard will invest up to $50 million in Africa’s digital infrastructure to further financial inclusion.

The initiative, which was announced at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Friday (Dec. 16) and in a corresponding press release, will see Mastercard collaborate with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to support businesses engaged with Mastercard Community Pass.

An investment platform designed to increase digital inclusion in developing economies, Mastercard Community Pass is currently present in five African countries — Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Mauritania, where it helps to address infrastructure challenges such as unreliable internet connectivity, low smartphone ownership and poor access to financial services, the release stated.

“The Community Pass platform enables businesses, governments and NGOs to service rural and frequently offline communities,” said Mastercard Executive Vice President of Humanitarian and Development Tara Nathan in the release. “For example, farmers can access quality seeds, fertilizers, and buyers, as well as payments and credit. Our partnership with DFC exemplifies how funding from the public sector, combined with technology and expertise from the private sector, can create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

By growing the network of financial institutions (FIs) and service providers on the Community Pass platform, Mastercard said its collaboration with DFC will help it reach its target of 15 million Community Pass users in Africa by 2027.

The latest announcement from Mastercard comes just two days after Visa announced its own billion-dollar investment in Africa’s digital transformation.

That initiative, also announced at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, will see Visa invest $1 billion over the course of the next five years to scale its operations and deepen its collaboration with governments, banks and businesses in the region.

“Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business, and today our commitment to the continent remains as firm and unwavering as ever,” said Visa Chairman and CEO Al Kelly in the release. “Every day, Visa supports digital commerce and money movement in every country across the continent... We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners to advance the financial ecosystem, accelerate digitization and to build resilient, innovative and inclusive economies that will create shared opportunity and further spur Africa’s digital economy.”

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