Laying the Rails

Mastercard eyes Ethiopian fintech, telco partners to scale up cashless payments

By David Whitehouse

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Posted on June 20, 2023 04:00

A Masterpass QR payment system is demonstrated at the MasterCard booth during the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas © A Masterpass QR payment system demonstrated at the the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Steve Marcus — A Masterpass QR payment system demonstrated at the the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Steve Marcus

Mastercard is looking for fintech and telecom partnerships in Ethiopia as it seeks to scale up the acceptance of non-cash payments in the country, says Mark Elliott, the company’s president for sub-Saharan Africa.

“We absolutely want more Ethiopian fintech partners,” Elliott says on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan. “You’ve got to believe you can increase acceptance tenfold.”

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