In a bid to fast-track Africa’s leap into a digital-first financial future, Mastercard has reaffirmed its commitment to inclusive growth with a landmark $300 million initiative aimed at empowering three million farmers across Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania.
This is coming at a time when the African digital payment economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.
The investment, which was facilitated in collaboration with the African Development Bank (ADB), forms part of a broader strategy to integrate underserved communities into the formal financial system and unlock the continent’s untapped economic potential.
Mastercard’s Country Manager and Area Business Head for West Africa, Fola Shadefemi-Lawal, who disclosed the initiative recently on ARISE News Channels, said the initiative underscored the company’s mission to connect one billion people to the digital economy by the end of 2025. This includes targeted support for 50 million small businesses and 25 million female entrepreneurs.
“We came not just to do business in Africa, but to create real value. With our deep investment in technology and partnerships across banking, telecoms, government, and fintech sectors, Mastercard is strategically positioned to enable access where it matters most,” Shadefemi-Lawal said.
The aggressive push comes amid predictions that Africa’s digital payments economy will soar to $1.5 trillion by 2030, as revealed in a new Mastercard-commissioned report by Genesis Analytics.
Shadefemi-Lawal attributes the explosive growth to factors like a 20 per cent annual increase in internet penetration and the continent being home to nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies.
Beyond the numbers, Mastercard’s innovations are bridging the access gap in rural regions. Its collaborations with KaiOS, a mobile OS provider, enable low-cost feature phones to function as payment acceptance tools, eliminating the need for traditional and costly point-of-sale systems. Additionally, tools like tap-on-phone and QR payments are transforming how small businesses transact across borders.
“Technology is our bridge to inclusion,” Shadefemi-Lawal emphasised, adding that it’s what turns strategy into impact for Africa’s MSMEs, farmers, and innovators.
As the continent races toward a digital economic transformation, Mastercard’s initiatives are not only accelerating financial inclusion but reshaping Africa’s role in the global financial landscape, making inclusion, empowerment, and innovation more than buzzwords, but tangible milestones of progress,” Shadefemi-Lawal added.
