Mastercard partners with Mojaloop and AfricaNenda on trusted payments to bolster the instant economy across Africa

As countries across Africa continue to modernize their payment infrastructure, Mastercard is expanding its efforts to help build trusted and inclusive payment systems through strategic collaborations with The Mojaloop Foundation and AfricaNenda Foundation.

Africa now has 36 live instant payment systems across 31 countries, processing more than 64 billion transactions worth close to US$2 trillion in 2024 alone.

As account-to-account payments continue to grow, the new partnerships will help to strengthen local payments infrastructure enabling consumers and businesses to transact safely and confidently, fuelling economic growth across the continent.

Through a new collaboration with The Mojaloop Foundation, a non-profit that maintains free, open-source payments software and community infrastructure, Mastercard will explore how its AI-powered A2A Protect solution can complement Mojaloop’s, payment infrastructure to help strengthen fraud prevention and deliver end to end consumer protections that more closely mirror the safeguards consumers have come to expect from cards. Bringing together real time risk scoring, mule account intelligence and dispute resolution services in a single framework, Mastercard A2A Protect is one of the industry’s most comprehensive solutions for account-to-account payment protection, helping financial institutions combat fraud whilst fostering trust and accelerating the adoption of instant payments at scale.

With 15% of adults encountering a scam every day*, *the initiative aims to support governments and financial providers as they expand access to digital financial services while maintaining the trust, resilience and security required to keep pace with growing demand.

Mojaloop’s technology has already been used to roll out deployments across Africa, where Mojaloop has supported the development of interoperable payment infrastructure.

Mastercard has also partnered with AfricaNenda Foundation, an Africa-based non-profit dedicated to accelerating financial inclusion through inclusive instant-payment systems. By combining Mastercard’s real-time payments expertise with AfricaNenda’s regional policy engagement and governance support, the organizations are helping advance interoperable, trusted and resilient payment systems across the continent, helping bring more people, businesses and communities into the digital economy.

Mastercard’s work with Mojaloop and AfricaNenda reflects a shared ambition – to help shape the future of Africa’s digital economy through instant payment systems that are not only fast and interoperable, but also safe, inclusive, and trusted.

Johan Gerber, Executive Vice President, Payment Networks said: “Trust is the foundation of every successful digital economy. As account-to-account payments accelerate across Africa, consumers and businesses need the confidence that their money is protected and supported when something goes wrong. We’re excited to work with Mojaloop and AfricaNenda to bring our A2A expertise and enhanced consumer protections to help unlock Africa’s instant payments future.”

Jean Bosco Iyacu, Chief Executive Officer, The Mojaloop Foundation commented: “Mojaloop provides free, open-source payment infrastructure that enables countries to deploy instant payment systems quickly and cost-effectively. We are seeing first-hand how these systems are transforming the way consumers in underbanked communities move money, but adoption depends on trust and strong protection when it is needed. Mastercard’s fraud prevention and dispute resolution capabilities can strengthen protection and give consumers greater confidence in using digital payments. By adding these options alongside open source solutions like Tazama to our framework, and with the continued support of our partners and community, we are helping make financial inclusion across Africa a reality.