Mastercard and Onafriq collaborate to increase accessibility to financial services across Africa.

MasterCard and Onafriq, a pan-African payments provider, have partnered to provide a range of payment solutions to consumers and small and medium-sized businesses across the continent.

The two firms announced their collaboration today, which they say would allow Onafriq to leverage Mastercard technology for digital commerce.

According to the firms, this collaboration underlines MasterCard's goal to integrating one billion individuals into the digital economy by 2025.

The statement notes that the partnership will drive the growth of digital financial services, such as mobile money transactions, cross-border remittances, and cross-border settlements.

Amnah Ajmal, executive vice president, market development, EEMEA at MasterCard, says: “Technological advancements are steering the digital financial services industry, and providing accessible digital payment solutions is imperative for empowering consumers to seamlessly transition to digital commerce.

“We seek to leverage fintech partnerships in Africa to catalyse transformative change across industries that benefit individuals, communities, and businesses.”

In the case of Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of Onafriq, says: “We share a strong alignment of vision and mission, interoperability, and markets. In addition, we both understand that financial inclusion is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic priority for economic development in Africa.”

The agreement between MasterCard and Onafriq comes as Africa's mobile money sector is regarded as one of the world's most established and rapidly developing fintech industries.

According to the GSM Association's State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa has 835 million registered mobile money accounts, accounting for 48% of global users and growing at a 19% annual rate.