Payments technology company MasterCard is expanding into seven additional markets across Central and West Africa.

In a statement, the company says it is adding Chad, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Gambia to its operating country.

The move means that MasterCard has services in 48 markets in Africa.

“Africa’s ongoing economic development, steady population growth and encouraging political outlook means that there is an increasing need for innovative and secure payment solutions that address market needs,” says Michael Miebach, Middle East and Africa president at MasterCard.

“The continent has immense strategic importance to MasterCard and we will continue to invest in infrastructure, people and know-how in this part of the world. This has been the fastest growing area for MasterCard for the past few years, and we expect it to continue to register high growth,” says Miebach.

The move to broaden its African footprint comes as Mastercard says it has more than 58,000 ATM locations and 438,000 Point of Sale (POS) terminals across Africa.

And since January 2013, the company says in countries such as Kenya, it has introduced ‘Mobile Point of Sale’ (MPOS) technology with the likes of Equity Bank.

“Our investment in Africa, through sharing industry knowledge and best practice, and by providing training for our customer banks, merchants and retailers, means we are creating more opportunities for all stakeholders in the African payments sector and better integrating the continent’s economies with those elsewhere in the world,” says Miebach.