Mastercard released a whitepaper highlighting Africa’s readiness, opportunity, and roadmap for responsible artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. Harnessing the transformative power of AI in Africa shares insights into how AI can unlock significant outcomes across the continent’s major industries, including agriculture, healthcare, education, energy, and finance. The whitepaper also details the potential positive impact of AI on digital infrastructure, policy and governance, research and development, local language processing, and investment into Africa. Additionally, it examined how AI can create more jobs, with up to 230 million digital jobs projected by 2030 on
Mastercard Foundation, an international nongovernmental organization, has ended its commitment to invest $100 million in 54 Collective, the most active investor in Africa. 54 Collective (formerly Founders Factory Africa) and Mastercard Foundation “will be pursuing different strategies moving forward, and the partnership will end on 30 April 2025,” the venture capital firm told Rest of World in an email. A setback for Africa’s most active investor On February 20, the leadership team of 54 Collective informed staff that the new changes would lead to layoffs as the firm would end
According to a Tuesday court filing, Mastercard has agreed to pay $26 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit which alleged it underpaid female, Black, and Hispanic employees, as per The New York Times. Four Masterard employees who previously worked at the company believed it had hired women and workers of color into lower-paying roles. Their suspicions grew as employees received fewer raises and promotions than white men doing similar work. Additionally, the lawsuit charges Mastercard with violating federal laws banning pay discrimination and workplace sex and race bias.
Mastercard has announced the opening of its first office in Ghana as the company aims to strengthen its presence in the West African country. The latest move is predicted to help Ghana’s economy by creating more jobs and innovating tech, which signifies the country’s emerging influence in the region’s fintech industry. “Ghana presents a tremendous opportunity for Mastercard to enhance its geographical presence in West Africa. We are committed to attracting and nurturing top talent and fostering an ecosystem that aims to contribute positively to the local economy and technological
Visa and Mastercard are setting their sights on Africa’s fintech market. Africa’s booming fintech sector E-commerce is booming across the continent. The Wall Street Journal reports that by the end of this year, an estimated 435 million Africans are expected to shop online, a nearly twofold increase since the pandemic. However, people are less likely to make payments using cards than in other global markets, relying instead on mobile money, digital wallets, and bank transfers. Visa and Mastercard, determined to stay relevant, are pouring millions of dollars into the continent
Mastercard has purchased a minority stake in mobile operator MTN Group’s fintech business. MTN is Africa’s largest mobile network operator, sharing the benefits of a modern connected life with 272 million customers in 19 markets across Africa and the Middle East. Established in 1994 in South Africa, the company provides voice, data, fintech, digital, enterprise, wholesale, and API services. Mastercard’s Minority Stake In MTN Last year, in 2023, Mastercard announced it would purchase a minority stake in the MTN, and now, six months later, they have. In a statement, MTN said it had
