Discover top fintech news and events!
Subscribe to FinTech Weekly's newsletter
Read by executives at JP Morgan, Coinbase, Blackrock, Klarna and more
Mastercard and enza Join Forces to Power African Fintech Payment Infrastructure
A new collaboration between Mastercard and Abu Dhabi-based payment solutions provider enza aims to accelerate access to digital financial services across Africa. The partnership will allow fintech companies operating on the continent to embed Mastercard payment capabilities directly into their offerings through enza’s platform—streamlining integration and enabling faster time to market.
As the fintech sector in Africa continues its rapid growth, this move could reduce technical and regulatory barriers for startups and mid-sized companies while broadening access to secure and scalable payment infrastructure.
A Growing Fintech Market with Complex Needs
The African fintech market has experienced significant expansion in recent years. According to data from the European Investment Bank, the number of fintech firms across the continent has nearly tripled since 2020. Much of this growth stems from increasing demand for digital financial services, particularly in areas where traditional banking systems have struggled to reach customers or have proven costly and inefficient.
These fintech companies are not just offering new tools—they are rethinking how payments, credit, savings, and business transactions are embedded into everyday digital platforms. Whether it’s a ride-hailing app that offers wallet features or a farming cooperative app with payment integration, these services are increasingly expected to handle more than just core functionality. But developing secure, compliant, and scalable payment infrastructure from scratch remains a challenge for smaller firms.
This is where the Mastercard–enza collaboration seeks to intervene.
Making Embedded Payments Easier
The strategic partnership allows African fintech companies using enza’s platform to access Mastercard’s full suite of payment services. These include consumer and merchant accounts, virtual and physical card issuance, and multi-channel acceptance tools for online, mobile, and in-store payments.
enza will host the accounts, manage system integrations, and ensure regulatory compliance and operational resilience, letting fintechs focus on product development rather than backend infrastructure.
This approach is aimed at reducing technical complexity—one of the biggest roadblocks for startups—and speeding up product launches. By embedding payment services directly into enza’s infrastructure, fintech firms can launch solutions with Mastercard compatibility without needing to independently secure licenses, certifications, or partnerships with acquiring banks.
Why This Matters for Financial Inclusion
Despite Africa’s expanding digital economy, financial inclusion remains uneven. Large segments of the population still rely heavily on cash or informal networks for daily transactions. For businesses, especially in rural or underserved markets, the costs and complexity of adopting digital payments remain high.
Partnerships like the one between Mastercard and enza offer a model for reducing this gap. By lowering the barrier to entry for fintech firms, the collaboration can facilitate broader access to digital financial tools. Startups can bring solutions to market faster, and established fintechs can expand into new markets with less friction.
Moreover, the availability of Mastercard-branded services may help build consumer trust in new platforms. It also provides fintechs with instant interoperability, enabling users to transact more easily across platforms and borders.
Regional and Global Implications
This deal also reinforces Mastercard’s long-standing interest in Africa as a growth region. The company has previously launched programs to support fintech development on the continent, including investment initiatives and digital infrastructure projects. With enza, Mastercard gains a regional partner with a focused presence in Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria—three of the continent’s largest fintech markets.
enza, launched in 2023 and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, brings agility to the collaboration. Its infrastructure is designed specifically to serve the unique needs of the African payments landscape, offering fintech firms modular tools that adapt to different regulatory and operational environments.
By allowing firms to configure prepaid and postpaid accounts and issue cards without extensive backend development, enza reduces time to revenue—a critical factor in early-stage fintech success.
Speed, Security, and Scale
A key part of the value proposition lies in reliability. enza’s platform is built to ensure system availability, data security, and compliance with regional and international financial regulations. In a market where downtime or security lapses can seriously damage user confidence, this operational layer is not just supportive—it is foundational.
As mobile and app-based commerce grows across Africa, so does the demand for reliable digital payments. Consumers expect fast, secure transactions whether buying online, sending remittances, or making in-store purchases. With Mastercard’s global network and enza’s regional infrastructure, this partnership can offer both speed and trust.
A Practical Path to Fintech Expansion
For fintech companies trying to break through in Africa’s highly fragmented financial market, this collaboration offers a practical onramp. Instead of spending months or even years developing payment systems or securing banking relationships, they can plug into an ecosystem that already meets technical, regulatory, and security requirements.
This reduces capital expenditure and shortens the feedback loop between product development and customer adoption. In a competitive fintech environment, that speed can make a significant difference.
It also opens the door to more experimentation. By removing the heavy lifting associated with payments infrastructure, startups can focus on use case innovation—developing sector-specific solutions for agriculture, education, healthcare, or local commerce that meet real-world needs.
Looking Ahead
Africa’s digital economy is at a pivotal moment. With smartphone adoption on the rise, and mobile-first users driving demand for frictionless financial tools, the region presents major opportunities for innovation. But scaling financial services in such a varied environment still requires careful coordination and robust infrastructure.
Partnerships like the one between Mastercard and enza show how global expertise and regional agility can work together to unlock growth. The collaboration promises to simplify one of the most challenging aspects of fintech development—payments—and give new and existing players the tools they need to operate confidently and securely.
If it delivers as expected, the deal could become a blueprint for other emerging markets where similar payment gaps exist. And for Africa’s growing community of fintech builders, it might just be the accelerant they’ve been waiting for.
