Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to help secure the continent's digital future

New pan-African initiative aimed at strengthening collective cyber resilience across Africa's digital economy.

Brings together public and private sector organizations to share intelligence, build readiness and support improved response.

Launch begins in South Africa and Nigeria, reinforcing Mastercard's long-term commitment and investments in Africa's digital transformation and supporting trust in the digital ecosystem.

Mastercard announced the launch of its Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a pan-African initiative designed to strengthen cyber resilience, enhance collaboration and help safeguard the trust that underpins Africa's expanding digital economy.

The announcement was made during a visit to South Africa and Nigeria by Mastercard CEO, Michael Miebach, reflecting Mastercard's long-term commitment to supporting Africa's digital transformation by helping organizations anticipate, withstand and recover from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

The Cybersecurity Center of Excellence extends Mastercard’s expertise and network, bringing global competence and intelligence to one of the world's fastest-growing digital economies.

This initiative follows through on commitments made in recent discussions with the Nigerian Government in Abuja, and the South African Government during last year’s G20 meetings in Johannesburg, to strengthen cybersecurity efforts in Africa.

Government Support

His Excellency, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, said:

“We recognize that for digitization to be inclusive, it must be trusted and secure. Mastercard has long been a trusted partner to South Africa, and its Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence is a welcome step to build on that foundation, drawing on the country’s best and brightest to meet a challenge no government or company can solve alone."

His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President of Nigeria, said:

“As Nigeria deepens its digital transformation, secure and trusted systems will be critical to inclusion and growth. We welcome collaborations that strengthen our digital economy and build resilience for the future.”

Strengthening Collective Cyber Defence

As digital adoption accelerates across Africa, cybersecurity has become an imperative for economic growth.

No single organization can face today’s cyber threats alone.

The Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence has been established to support the strengthening of collective defense across the continent by bringing together financial institutions, public sector organizations and businesses to share intelligence, improve preparedness, anticipate threats earlier and build resilience over time.

Michael Miebach, CEO, Mastercard, said:

"Africa is dynamic, fast-growing, and ready to scale its digital future. That won't happen without trust. People don't use what they don't trust. That makes cybersecurity foundational to driving economic resilience and growth across the continent. By doing more to connect public and private sector efforts and share best practices, we can strengthen collective defense and secure a more confident and inclusive digital economy."

Addressing Africa’s Cybersecurity Challenges

As Africa’s digital economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, the need for greater collaboration has never been more urgent.

Cybercrime across Africa is rising sharply, resulting in significant economic losses each year, with only an estimated 35% of incidents officially reported.

This underreporting is driven by cyber maturity gaps, limited detection capabilities, and reputational concerns, thus creating a fragmented view of the threat landscape and weakening coordinated response efforts across the region.

South Africa is the continent’s most targeted market, accounting for around 29% of ransomware attacks and 40% of phishing incidents in Africa, while Nigeria ranks among the most affected markets for ransomware and dark-web threat activity.

Phased Rollout Across Africa

The multi-year initiative will be led by Mastercard.

It will begin a phased rollout in 2026, starting with South Africa and Nigeria.

Through this collective model, it is intended to support the strengthening of cyber resilience and preparedness and enable more secure digital growth across Africa.

Operating as a pan-African hub delivered through connected digital platforms and capabilities, the Center will help participating organisations gain greater visibility into emerging threats.

This includes a first-year ecosystem cyber risk analysis covering up to 50 organisations, alongside access to an Africa-focused threat intelligence feed developed by Recorded Future, a Mastercard company.

Through collaboration among CISOs, business leaders and security practitioners - enabled by secure information-sharing, joint exercises and coordinated response - the Center will strengthen a more connected and resilient cybersecurity ecosystem across Africa.

The Center of Excellence is designed to evolve over time, expanding its capabilities as market needs develop.

Core Pillars of the Center

At the heart of the initiative are three core pillars:

Threat intelligence & strategic insights: Providing participating organizations with Africa-focused threat intelligence, including cybersecurity intelligence assessments across Africa and a shared view of risks.

Collaboration & knowledge sharing: Bringing together CISOs, senior business leaders and security teams to support enhanced collective response capabilities and advance cybersecurity best practices across industries.

Readiness & resilience: Helping organizations anticipate emerging threats through ongoing risk monitoring, resilience assessments, and scenario-based exercises designed to strengthen response and recovery capabilities.

Building Trust in Africa’s Digital Economy

The launch of the Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence represents the next chapter in Mastercard's broader mission to build trust in the digital economy.

The company has invested more than $12.6 billion in cybersecurity innovation since 2018 and has supported the launch of more than 20 cybersecurity-focused startups.

This marks a further step in Mastercard’s evolution from a payments network to a trusted technology and cyber intelligence partner, supporting the strengthening of cyber resilience across Africa and enabling secure, inclusive and sustainable digital growth.

By working alongside governments, financial institutions and businesses of all sizes, including SMEs, Mastercard intends to help strengthen the digital foundations that underpin inclusive growth.

By investing in capabilities that address the continent’s evolving realities, Mastercard seeks to support the development of a more secure and resilient digital future across the markets in which it operates.