E-Financial
Mastercard Adds Hello Tractor, Nigerian Agri-Tech Firm to Accelerate Programme
Mastercard has announced the expansion of its Accelerate fintech portfolio, adding dynamic entrepreneurs to its award-winning startup engagement program Start Path and more technology partners to its Engage network, providing access to expert engineers and specialists that can help customers deploy new services quickly and efficiently.
Mastercard helps emerging brands grow, diversify and build their businesses, supporting their programs today and serving up what we know they will need in the decades to come.
Recognizing the important role fintechs play in the world’s rapid digital transformation, Mastercard is continuously diversifying its business by diversifying its perspective: looking to new partners, new markets and new ways to build on its core competency as a payments network.
The most recent African fintech to join the Start Path program is Hello Tractor, which operates across Nigeria and Kenya.
Hello Tractor is revolutionizing mechanization services across emerging markets by bringing together tractor owners and smallholder farmers through Internet of Things technology and allowing farmers to access affordable tractor services, plant on time and increase yields. It is one of 11 global startups welcomed into Start Path.
“The current global shift towards digitization and open banking is transforming the future of commerce and connectivity as we know it. We are particularly excited to partner with regional innovative fintechs, such as Hello Tractor, through our Start Path program. These partnerships are crucial as we continue to build the digital economy through ongoing innovations that deliver locally-relevant payment solutions to empower communities and harness Africa’s potential,” said Raghav Prasad, division president for Sub-Saharan Africa, Mastercard.
Mastercard Start Path
Globally, Mastercard is welcoming 11 new startups to its Start Path program, offering a powerful network, innovative technology and deep expertise to help them grow their business and scale sustainably.
Since 2014, Mastercard has invited more than 230 later-stage startups worldwide to participate in its six-month virtual program, providing technical guidance, operational support and commercial engagements within the Mastercard ecosystem.
“Hello Tractor is revolutionizing how farmers access tractors in a region that has been plagued by low rates of mechanization. By partnering with Mastercard through the Start Path program, we have the opportunity to unlock additional value for our farmers by expanding their access to banking and payments infrastructure. This combination of innovations holds unlimited promise for this continent and the global south,” said Jehiel Oliver, founder Hello Tractor.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, several African fintechs have benefited from the Start Path program including Ukheshe, MAX, N-Frnds, Flutterwave, Kasha, mfarmPay, Netplus, Lidya and Lipa Later.
Providing a simple, single entry point to Mastercard’s wide fintech portfolio and access to everything startups need to grow quickly, these fintechs have achieved accelerated growth from the program over the past few years.
Start Path evaluates more than 1,500 applications each year and selects approximately 40 startups that offer the most promising technologies and demonstrate a readiness to scale.
Startups in this growing network have gone on to raise $2.7 billion in post program capital and collaborate with Mastercard, major banks, merchants and other high-profile organizations.
Mastercard Engage
Consumer expectations are evolving more rapidly than ever and banks, financial institutions, and digital players are looking for even more agility in bringing new solutions to market; Mastercard’s global reach and local roots afford it the ability to foster a strong, carefully curated network of technology partners that are qualified based on Mastercard standards and industry requirements.
Mastercard is expanding its Engage program to support even more solutions and deliver better learning and promotional opportunities for partners.
Engage identifies, serves and promotes a network of more than 170 strategic partners who comply with Mastercard certification and rules, to build and deploy new solutions on behalf of fintechs, banks and merchants.
In the first quarter of 2020 alone, Engage signed almost 50 new deals with partners such as Antelop, Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security, MeaWallet, Netcetera, Payair and Thales across Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa.
Strengthening the capabilities of technology partners is even more critical during times of crisis, so fintechs can innovate faster and better serve consumers and businesses.
Engage has enabled more than 200 million cards to support financial growth and market entry for fintechs around the world.
Additional resources are now available for partners through the new Mastercard Engage website.
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has called for comments from financial services industry stakeholders in the country, policy makers and the general public towards the ongoing revision of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance System.
The proposed revision launched by IADI in May 2025, is a significant step towards enhancing the resilience and relevance of deposit insurance frameworks in the face of an evolving global financial landscape.
Specifically, the revision is aimed at comprehensively addressing structural changes, including digital innovation, the growing role of deposit insurers in resolution, and lessons learned from the banking turmoil in March 2023, which is the most significant systemic stress event since the 2007-09 global financial crisis.
The IADI Core Principles are used by jurisdictions, including Nigeria, as a benchmark for assessing the quality of their deposit insurance systems and for identifying gaps in their deposit insurance practices and measures to address them.
The Core Principles are also used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the context of the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP), to assess the effectiveness of jurisdictions’ deposit insurance systems and practices.
The first set of the Core Principles was issued jointly by the IADI and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in June 2009 while the document is subjected to periodic revision order to keep it up-to-date with evolving trends on the global financial system landscape.
As a founding and committed member of IADI, NDIC recognises the importance of the ongoing revision and hereby invites stakeholders and the general public to actively participate in the process by reviewing the document on the lin
Onafriq, Africa’s largest digital payments network, has celebrated a major milestone, connecting nearly 1 billion mobile money wallets and 500 million bank accounts across the continent.
According to a statement released by the company, Onafriq has evolved from a mobile money switch to a comprehensive omnichannel payments network, facilitating seamless transactions and financial inclusion.
The company’s network now connects 961 million registered mobile wallets and 464 million registered bank accounts, with over 2,000 cross-border payment corridors supported.
Speaking on the achievement, Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO of Onafriq, said, “We remain fully committed to connecting every individual and business in Africa with each other and the world.”
Okoudjou noted that the company has grown in lockstep with the continent’s digital evolution, from mobile money to bank accounts, remittances, and real-time trade.
As Onafriq embarks on its next chapter, the company aims to develop infrastructure with local relevance while maintaining the scale of its pan-African infrastructure.
A prime example is Nigeria, where Onafriq is developing a unique payments stack that combines the strength of its cross-border network with the regulatory and foreign exchange realities of one of Africa’s most dynamic economies.
The company is also exploring blockchain infrastructure and stablecoin integrations to facilitate near-instant, programmable payments, aligning with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“We are increasingly focused on creating infrastructure with local depth,” Okoudjou said.
With extensive experience, wide reach, and a proven execution track record, Onafriq remains dedicated to building a payment infrastructure that unlocks prosperity across borders and within local communities.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) has informed its customers that, in compliance with a new directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from bank accounts, effective June 3, 2025.
In a notice sent to customers, the bank explained that the charges would now be deducted directly from users’ mobile airtime balances, in line with the NCC’s newly introduced End-User Billing (EUB) framework.
It said the new model aimed to ensure transparency in USSD transactions and shift billing responsibility to mobile network operators.
According to UBA, each USSD session would now cost ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, saying that customers initiating transactions would receive a prompt to provide consent at the start of each session, and airtime would only be debited if the bank is available to process the request.
The bank advised customers who are not comfortable with the new billing arrangement to opt for other digital banking alternatives such as the UBA mobile app and internet banking platform, which remain fully operational and user-friendly.
UBA reaffirmed its commitment to providing secure and accessible digital services, and encouraged customers to choose the channel that best suits their banking needs.
The policy marks a significant shift in Nigeria’s digital banking ecosystem and is expected to address longstanding disputes over USSD service charges between telecom operators and financial institutions.
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