Nairobi: MasterCard has grown its acceptance network across Africa by 45 per cent in 2025, a major milestone that brings millions of consumers and small businesses into the continent’s fast-expanding digital economy. This accelerated progress underscores the strong advancement of digital payments, technology, and innovation in Africa, a transformation that traditionally would have taken several years to accomplish.
According to Kenya News Agency, the surge comes in a year defined by new market entries, significant investment, product innovation, and an expanded on-ground presence. These efforts reinforce MasterCard’s role in powering Africa’s projected USD 1.5 trillion digital payments market by 2030. In a press release, Mark Elliott, the Division President, Africa, MasterCard, stated that these achievements resulted from collaborations across Africa, aimed at connecting more people and businesses to the financial system, thereby driving greater financial inclusion and economic opportunity.
‘2025 has been a defining year for MasterCard in Africa. From acceptance growth to new digital capabilities, our focus has been on solutions that bring people and small businesses into the heart of the digital economy,’ Elliott added. Over the past two years, MasterCard has accelerated its Africa expansion, opening new offices in Ghana, Uganda, and Mauritius, with further markets set for launch in 2026.
The company has also increased its employee base by almost 20 per cent across the continent, strengthening local capabilities and enabling the co-creation of solutions tailored to the needs of African communities and merchants. Shehryar Ali, Country Manager, East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, highlighted that East Africa continues to lead the world in digital financial inclusion. ‘This year we scaled cross-border solutions, virtual cards, and acceptance growth to enable more trusted digital engagement,’ he added.
Alongside its footprint expansion, MasterCard advanced key digital infrastructure, including tokenisation upgrades, digital identity capabilities, and virtual card enhancements, to bolster trust, safety, and convenience across online and in-person payments. MasterCard is further helping to advance Africa’s SME ecosystem through pan-African collaborations that enable seamless cross-border payments, credit solutions, and marketplace digitisation.
The collaborations include governments, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs), and Telecommunication players, which have led to the company launching 15 new SME-focused programs in the past 18 months. ‘SMEs, Africa’s economic backbone, have been the top focus, and consumer spending is expected to rise across major markets with Kenya at 4 percent, Morocco 3.4 percent, Nigeria 6 percent, and South Africa 1.9 percent,’ Ali noted.
According to MasterCard, demand for digital tools has surged; these digital payment tools are essential for SMEs to meet evolving business needs, enabling them to pay and get paid seamlessly, access credit, strengthen financial resilience, and operate with enhanced safety and security in an increasingly digital economy. These tools include tap-on-phone solutions, the MasterCard Payment Gateway System (MPGS) for e-commerce transactions, QR payment capabilities, point-of-sale solutions, and business payment control capabilities, enabling virtual card issuance.
Key SME milestones have been achieved in Kenya, Mauritius, and Tanzania, through collaborations with organisations such as Family Bank and KCB, empowering over 200,000 SMEs with digital solutions. MasterCard is also actively using Community Pass as part of its efforts to increase digital access in underserved and rural areas in Africa. Community Pass is a social enterprise initiative that digitises and connects remote and rural communities to governments, NGOs, and private sector services.
Further, through the Mobilising Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance, MasterCard and key stakeholders aim to expand access to digital services for 100 million individuals and businesses by 2034. ‘Since launching in May 2024, the MADE Alliance has engaged in Kenya by enabling affordable high-speed internet and digital training for 13 cooperatives, reaching over 10,000 farmers.
Looking ahead, MasterCard officials predict that technologies such as AI and agentic commerce will define the next era of commerce, with Africa’s AI market projected to reach USD 16.5 billion by 2030. In 2026, MasterCard has committed to continuing to advance financial inclusion, expand across markets, and introduce more locally relevant digital solutions, all while investing in the infrastructure needed to support a more secure and connected African economy.