Mastercard has significantly bolstered its presence across Africa in 2025, expanding its acceptance network by an impressive 45 percent. This substantial growth is a strategic move aimed at integrating millions of consumers and small businesses into the continent's rapidly expanding digital economy. The company's proactive push has been underpinned by a multi-faceted approach, including successful new market entries, strategic fresh investments, continuous product innovation, and a strengthened local presence across key regions.

Over the past two years, Mastercard demonstrated its commitment to the African market by establishing new offices in Ghana, Uganda, and Mauritius. Concurrently, it expanded its employee base on the continent by nearly 20 percent, a move designed to enhance local capabilities and foster co-creation of tailored solutions for various merchants and communities. This localized approach is crucial for addressing the unique needs and challenges of different African markets.

Central to Mastercard's expansion strategy are a series of advanced technology upgrades, meticulously designed to elevate trust and convenience in both online and in-person payment ecosystems. These innovations encompass robust tokenisation protocols, sophisticated digital identity features, enhanced virtual card capabilities, and convenient tap-on-phone solutions. Furthermore, the introduction of the Mastercard Payment Gateway System for e-commerce, along with QR pay by link and QR-on-card offerings, provides diverse options for digital transactions. Business payment control capabilities, enabling virtual card issuance, further empower enterprises with efficient financial management tools.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are identified as a pivotal component of Mastercard's overarching strategy. The company has highlighted several country-specific milestones that underscore the transformative impact of digital payments on the growth trajectory of small businesses. In Morocco, Mastercard collaborated with BCP and the Ministry of Handicrafts to co-develop the nation's inaugural digital marketplace, successfully connecting 2.3 million artisans to the digital economy. In Nigeria, innovative QR-on-card solutions, launched in partnership with UBA and WEMA, are facilitating payment acceptance for an estimated 1.8 million SMEs and gig workers. Additionally, USD cards provided in collaboration with Zenith Bank are supporting over 50,000 SMEs in navigating cross-border trade. Similar strategic partnerships in Kenya, Mauritius, and Tanzania with financial institutions like NMB, AfrAsia, Family Bank, and KCB are set to empower more than 200,000 SMEs with essential digital tools.

Beyond urban and semi-urban centers, Mastercard is actively pursuing financial inclusion in underserved and rural areas through its innovative Community Pass platform. This platform serves to digitize remote communities, effectively linking them to crucial government, non-governmental organization (NGO), and private sector services. The ambitious goal is to register 15 million users in Africa on this platform within the next five years, building on the success of already reaching 1.2 million smallholder farmers in Uganda.

Since May 2024, Mastercard has been at the forefront of the Mobilising Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance. This significant initiative aims to broaden access to digital services for 100 million individuals and businesses by 2034. In Kenya, the MADE Alliance has already yielded tangible results by supporting affordable internet access and digital training for 13 cooperatives, collectively reaching over 10,000 farmers. Furthermore, it has deployed Farm Pass profiles for more than 80,000 farmers and contributed to building capacity for 250,000 farmers through valuable cooperative partnerships.

This extensive expansion aligns with broader optimistic market forecasts for the continent. Mastercard supports projections indicating that Africa’s digital payments market could surge to an impressive $1.5 trillion by 2030, with the continent's Artificial Intelligence (AI) market also anticipated to reach $16.5 billion within the same timeframe. Mark Elliott, Division President, Africa, Mastercard, described 2025 as a "defining year" for the company in Africa, emphasizing their focus on solutions that integrate people and small businesses into the digital economy. He reiterated that ongoing collaborations will be instrumental in connecting more individuals and businesses to the financial system, thereby fostering greater financial inclusion and economic opportunity.

Folasade Femi-Lawal, Country Manager, West Africa, highlighted West Africa as one of the continent's fastest-growing digital corridors, noting that Mastercard’s security-led innovations and expanded acceptance network have facilitated greater access to modern payments for SMEs and young entrepreneurs. Industry observers concur that Mastercard’s strategic moves reflect a wider continental shift, wherein robust mobile and digital payment infrastructure is becoming an indispensable prerequisite for facilitating cross-border trade, formalizing small businesses, and expanding crucial credit channels.

Looking ahead, Mastercard acknowledges the near-term challenge of translating its significant network growth and new product introductions into sustained usage by both merchants and consumers. The company's forward strategy for 2026 includes continuing market rollouts, scaling SME-focused programs, and making further investments in local infrastructure and partnerships, all aimed at fostering a more secure, inclusive, and connected African digital economy.