As Africa’s digital economy continues to expand, cybersecurity is becoming one of the most critical pillars supporting sustainable digital transformation. Mastercard has announced the launch of its Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a pan-African initiative designed to strengthen cyber resilience, improve collaboration, and help build the trust required for businesses, governments, and consumers to fully embrace the continent’s rapidly growing digital economy. The announcement reflects Mastercard’s long-term commitment to supporting secure digital growth while helping organizations anticipate, withstand, and recover from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
The initiative follows commitments made during recent engagements with the governments of Nigeria and South Africa to strengthen cybersecurity across the continent. Beginning with a phased rollout in South Africa and Nigeria during 2026, the Center will serve as a collaborative platform connecting governments, financial institutions, businesses, and cybersecurity professionals to improve intelligence sharing, preparedness, and coordinated responses to emerging cyber risks. By bringing together public and private sector stakeholders, Mastercard aims to strengthen collective defense against evolving cyber threats while supporting a safer digital environment for innovation and economic growth.
Operating as a pan-African digital hub, the Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence will provide participating organizations with access to Africa-focused threat intelligence, ecosystem cyber risk assessments, and secure information-sharing capabilities. During its first year, the initiative will conduct cyber risk analysis for up to 50 organizations while leveraging threat intelligence developed by Recorded Future, a Mastercard company. The Center will also facilitate collaboration among Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), business leaders, and security practitioners through joint exercises, resilience assessments, and scenario-based training designed to improve preparedness and strengthen response capabilities across industries.
The launch comes at a crucial time as Africa’s digital economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, while cybercrime continues to increase across the continent. Limited reporting, cybersecurity maturity gaps, and evolving attack methods have made stronger collaboration more important than ever. Mastercard’s initiative focuses on three strategic pillars: delivering actionable threat intelligence and strategic insights, promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing across sectors, and strengthening organizational readiness and resilience through continuous monitoring and practical cybersecurity exercises. Together, these capabilities are expected to help organizations reduce risk while building greater confidence in Africa’s digital ecosystem.
The Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence represents another milestone in Mastercard’s evolution from a global payments company into a trusted technology and cyber intelligence partner. Having invested more than $12.6 billion in cybersecurity innovation since 2018 and supported the growth of over 20 cybersecurity startups, Mastercard is reinforcing its commitment to protecting digital infrastructure across Africa. By working alongside governments, financial institutions, enterprises, and SMEs, the initiative aims to strengthen the digital foundations necessary for inclusive economic growth, increased digital trust, and a more resilient future for Africa’s rapidly evolving digital economy.
