DAKAR, Senegal – February 4, 2016 – The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) renewed its partnership with MasterCard at the African Mobile Phone Financial Services Policy Initiative (AMPI) meeting held in Dakar, Senegal earlier this week. More than 70 regulators and government officials from across Africa attended the meeting.

AFI provides a platform for government officials and regulators from across the continent to meet and discuss workable solutions that can help develop more inclusive economies across Africa. On the agenda at this year’s regional meeting – how to achieve financial inclusion in a tough economic environment.

As part of the technology company’s ongoing partnership with AFI, MasterCard joined the two-day event to showcase solutions to meet both economic and infrastructure challenges. Daniel Monehin, Division President for Sub-Saharan Africa, MasterCard reinforced the importance of public-private partnerships.

Advancing financial inclusion requires a broad collaboration between the private and public sector, in essence, a cooperation between multinational companies and local players. An example of this can be seen in Egypt, where MasterCard collaborates with the Egyptian Government to extend financial inclusion to 54 million citizens. Through a digital National ID (NID) program, which links citizens’ NID to existing national mobile money platforms and allows Egyptians to participate in the formal electronic economy through a single, easy-to-use cashless program.

“In order for financial inclusion initiatives to be both sustainable and scalable we need to develop fully functional payment ecosystems, as seen in Egypt. Approaching the project holistically, we wanted to ensure the payment technology introduced was interoperable and that all stakeholders across the spectrum were involved,” said Monehin.

Innovation is driving financial inclusion, and mobile devices give consumers the power to transact, connect, locate and search. This technology has the power of changing the way consumers view and think about the payment sector and how they feel about engaging with digital payment solutions.

During his session at AMPI 2016, Monehin noted that MasterCard’s three prong approach to financial inclusion is paying dividends. The technology company remains focused on creating ‘a world beyond cash’, where its innovative digital payment solutions are creating more inclusive ecosystems and where they are able to guide governments in the development of new business models capable of including more African’s into the formal financial sector.

“The Alliance for Financial Inclusion is pleased to announce its continued partnership with MasterCard through the AFI Public-Private Dialogue Platform,” said Norbert Mumba, Deputy Executive Director at AFI. “The PPD platform, with private sector partners, including MasterCard, builds upon AFI’s approach to bring the knowledge and experience of financial inclusion leaders together for the benefit of all.”

About the Alliance for Financial Inclusion

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), www.afi-global.org, is a global peer-learning network of more than 120 policymaking and regulatory institutions from over 90 developing and emerging countries working together to advance financial inclusion policy.  AFI members represent over 85% of the more than 2 billion unbanked people, most of whom live in poverty. Follow us on: Twitter @NewsAFI and on AFI Blog http://blogs.afi-global.org.

About MasterCard

MasterCard (NYSE: MA), http://www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry. We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews, join the discussion on the Cashless Pioneers Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.