MTN Group and Mastercard have signed a multi-market agreement that will set in motion a new era of collaboration to connect millions of people and small businesses across Africa with digital tools to transact through secure mobile payments.
With MTN’s overall subscriber base at 290 million and 60 million active monthly MoMo (Mobile Money) wallets, the agreement will impact 13 markets in Africa including Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.
The company disclosed this in a statement released on Thursday. According to the statement, the partnership will use Mastercard’s cutting-edge technology and capabilities to support MTN’s ambition to become Africa’s largest fintech platform for both merchants and consumers.
This development follows Mastercard and MTN’s recent agreement for a minority investment into MTN Group Fintech – the digital financial services arm of Africa’s largest mobile network operator – that concluded this month.
Under the agreement, a virtual and physical Mastercard companion card will be added to every MoMo wallet allowing users access to over 100 million acceptance locations globally enabling MTN to scale up internationally.
Commenting on the agreement by both companies, Executive Vice President, Market Development EEMEA, Mastercard, Amnah Ajmal, said:
The Group CEO of MTN Fintech, Serigne Dioum, noted that the partnership would enable more individuals and businesses in Africa to experience secure digital payments.
Africa is home to over 1.3 billion people and only about 43% are banked with over 90% of all payments and transactions made via cash. And of the total population, 45% have mobile money accounts.
Over the past five years, Mastercard and MTN have joined together to support several mobile money programs across Africa, helping people to make payments through global platforms, thus bringing more people into the financial mainstream.