Mastercard met with US Vice President Kamala Harris in Lusaka, Zambia's capital, for a roundtable discussion, during which Harris called on public and private leaders to invest in national financial inclusion strategies to bridge the digital divide in Africa.
Mastercard urged a reconsideration of current methods for addressing Africa's digital divide, highlighting partnerships at the center of its African strategy. As part of its commitment to connecting one billion individuals globally to the digital economy by 2025, Mastercard is expanding beyond its primary business of payment processing to create new enterprises that promote digital inclusion beyond finance.
Mark Elliot, President of Mastercard's Sub-Saharan Africa Division, pointed to Community Pass as an example of a digital platform intended to address infrastructure obstacles that emerge when digitizing rural communities, such as poor connectivity, low smartphone ownership, and a lack of consistent identification or credentials. "We aim to register 30 million people on our Community Pass platform by 2027, with an emphasis on enrolling 15 million people across Africa, including women in underserved and remote areas, to increase their access to digital commerce, agricultural markets, healthcare services, and humanitarian benefits," he said.
Community Pass was also mentioned in a fact sheet published by Vice President Harris on worldwide initiatives aimed at empowering women economically: Fact sheet: Vice President Harris launches Global Initiatives on the Economic Empowerment of Women totaling over $1 billion.
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