Mastercard ventures into African fintech, snapping up $5.2bn stake in continent’s no.1 telco – The North Africa Post

Mastercard has acquired a minority stake within the fintech subsidiary of South African telecommunications big MTN in a deal valued at a whopping $5.2 billion, whereby the partnership will see Africa’s largest cellular firm to strategically leverage the US big’s know-how for its funds and remittance enlargement within the continent.
By snapping up the minority stake in MTN’s financial-technology arm, Mastercard, the second-largest payment-processing company worldwide, has made waves within the African fintech sector. The shares of Africa’s largest cellular firm, with operations throughout the continent, surged by a exceptional 10% after the announcement, reflecting simply how vital is that this collaboration within the booming African fintech sector. The announcement of the offers comes as Mastercard has been seeking to construct its footprint in Africa and beforehand pumped $100m within the cellular cash enterprise of MTN rival Airtel Africa in 2021.
The collaboration is split into two phases, with the primary one involving a collaborative pact on funds and remittance, which can leverage Mastercard’s superior know-how to drive enlargement throughout Africa’s various panorama. The second part will see the US big injecting capital as a minority stakeholder inside the fintech enterprise. “It is a actually key milestone in the direction of driving the acceleration of our [fintech] companies,” MTN chief and president Ralph Mupita commented on the deal. This strategic transfer comes as Africa’s tech-savvy inhabitants more and more embraces cellular tech to bridge service gaps, particularly in finance, a course of which has turned the fintech enviornment right into a flourishing playground for wi-fi carriers.