Mastercard is shifting its focus from enabling speed and interoperability to ensuring consumers and businesses can transact safely and with confidence in Africa's instant payment systems. The company has unveiled new partnerships with the Mojaloop Foundation and AfricaNenda to strengthen fraud prevention across the continent. This move comes as account-to-account payments accelerate in Africa, with 36 live instant payment systems across 31 countries processing over 64 billion transactions worth close to $2 trillion in 2024 alone.
Johan Gerber, executive vice president of payment networks at Mastercard, emphasized the importance of trust in digital economies. "Trust is the foundation of every successful digital economy," he said. "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." Gerber highlighted Mastercard's commitment to providing solutions that ensure safe and trusted transactions.
Through its partnership with the Mojaloop Foundation, Mastercard will explore how its AI-powered A2A Protect solution can complement Mojaloop's infrastructure to deliver stronger safeguards for instant payments. A2A Protect brings together real-time risk scoring, mule account intelligence, and dispute resolution services in a single framework. This comprehensive solution helps financial institutions combat fraud while accelerating adoption at scale.
The push for enhanced security measures is timely, with 15 percent of adults encountering a scam every day. This raises fresh concerns for governments and providers as they expand access to digital financial services. Mojaloop's technology has already been used to roll out deployments across Africa, supporting the development of interoperable payment infrastructure, particularly for underbanked communities.
Mastercard is also working with the AfricaNenda Foundation, an Africa-based non-profit focused on accelerating financial inclusion through inclusive instant-payment systems. The partnership will combine Mastercard's real-time payments expertise with AfricaNenda's regional policy engagement and governance support. Both collaborations reflect a shared ambition to build instant payment systems that are not only fast and interoperable but also safe, inclusive, and trusted.
Jean Bosco Iyacu, chief executive officer of the Mojaloop Foundation, emphasized the importance of trust in adoption. "Mojaloop provides free, open-source payment infrastructure that enables countries to deploy instant payment systems quickly and cost-effectively." Iyacu noted that adoption depends on trust and strong protection, and Mastercard's fraud prevention and dispute resolution capabilities can strengthen protection and give consumers greater confidence in using digital payments.
The partnerships aim to unlock Africa's instant payments future by providing enhanced consumer protections and combating fraud. With Mastercard's expertise and the Mojaloop Foundation's and AfricaNenda's support, the goal is to create a safe and trusted environment for consumers and businesses to transact. This will be crucial in driving the growth of instant payments in Africa, where the number of transactions is expected to continue increasing rapidly.
Key points
- Mastercard partners with Mojaloop Foundation and AfricaNenda to strengthen fraud prevention across Africa's instant payment systems.
- Africa now has 36 live instant payment systems across 31 countries, processing over 64 billion transactions worth close to $2 trillion in 2024 alone.
- Mastercard's AI-powered A2A Protect solution aims to deliver stronger safeguards for instant payments by combining real-time risk scoring, mule account intelligence, and dispute resolution services.
