Mastercard has expanded its global commitment to financial inclusion by pledging to bring one billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025, according to a May 18th press release.
With Egypt included, the company will directly focus on providing solutions to 25 million women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. This resulted from the health and economic consequences of COVID-19 which addressed the critical need to support vulnerable populations.
Mastercard’s General Manager for Egypt and Pakistan Magdy Hassan noted that Mastercard has partnerships with the private sector and collaboration with the Egyptian government. Therefore, the company plans to continue building a future with innovative solutions that can be commercially viable and socially impactful.
As a pilot in Egypt, Mastercard and Levi Straus and Co. partnered up to digitize the wages of more than 10,000 garment factory workers in Port Said. In addition, Mastercard also teamed up with INJAZ Egypt so that Egyptian women entrepreneurs find opportunities for business skills and obtain seed funding.
As for the government part, the company worked with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to establish the first-ever mobile payment ecosystem, benefiting nearly 14 million smart wallet users.
Mastercard also cooperated with Egypt’s finance ministry to launch salary cards for six million government employees.
Source: https://www.arabfinance.com/en/news/details/egypt-companies/515996