Mastercard has grown its acceptance network across Africa by 45 percent in 2025 – a major milestone that brings millions more consumers and small businesses into the continent’s fast-expanding digital economy. The surge comes in a year defined by new market entries, significant investment, product innovation and an expanded on-ground presence—efforts that reinforce Mastercard’s role in powering Africa’s projected $1.5 trillion digital payments market by 2030.
SME Growth at the Center of Mastercard’s Business Strategy
SMEs, Africa’s economic backbone, are a top focus. With consumer spending expected to rise across major markets (Kenya 4%, Morocco 3.4%, Nigeria 6%, South Africa 1.9%), demand for digital tools has surged. Digital payment tools are also 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)- that enables e-Commerce transactions, QR Payment capabilities like QR pay by link and QR on card solutions, Point of Sale solutions and Business Payment Control Capabilities, which enable virtual card issuance.
Key SME milestones have included:
- South Africa: Driving financial inclusion in South Africa through our partners in the FI and Non-FI space, unlocking growth, addressing access-to-credit constraints, and empowering thousands of SMEs to scale and grow with confidence.
- Morocco: Co-developed the country’s first Digital Marketplace with BCP, the Ministry of Handicrafts and Paysky, benefiting 2.3 million artisans.
- Nigeria: New QR-on-Card solutions with UBA and WEMA enabling 1.8 million SMEs and gig workers to accept seamless payments and USD cards with Zenith Bank supporting 50,000+ SMEs with effortless cross-border trade.
- Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania: Collaborations with NMB, AfrAsia, Family Bank and KCB to empower 200,000+ SMEs with digital solutions.
Mark Elliott, Division President, Africa, Mastercard says, “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. Our collaborations across Africa will continue to connect more people and businesses to the financial system, helping drive greater financial inclusion and economic opportunity, as we collectively look towards a $1.5 trillion digital economy by 2030.”
“With South Africa driving Mastercard’s real-time payments capability globally, 2025 was a breakthrough year for innovation. Our collaboration on digital identity further strengthened secure, frictionless digital commerce”, adds Gabriel Swanepoel, Country Manager, Southern Africa.
