Mastercard has launched its Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a pan-African initiative designed to strengthen cyber resilience, enhance collaboration and help safeguard the trust that underpins Africa’s expanding digital economy.
The announcement, made during a visit to South Africa and Nigeria by Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, aims to support Africa’s digital transformation by helping organizations anticipate, withstand and recover from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
The initiative follows through on commitments made in recent discussions with the Nigerian Government in Abuja, and the South African Government during last year’s G20 meetings in Johannesburg, to strengthen cybersecurity efforts in Africa.
Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa, comments: “We recognise that for digitisation to be inclusive, it must be trusted and secure. Mastercard has long been a trusted partner to South Africa, and its Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence is a welcome step to build on that foundation, drawing on the country’s best and brightest to meet a challenge no government or company can solve alone.”
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, president of Nigeria, says: “As Nigeria deepens its digital transformation, secure and trusted systems will be critical to inclusion and growth. We welcome collaborations that strengthen our digital economy and build resilience for the future.”
The Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence aims to support the strengthening of collective defense across the continent by bringing together financial institutions, public sector organisations and businesses to share intelligence, improve preparedness, anticipate threats earlier and build resilience over time.
Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard, says: “Africa is dynamic, fast-growing, and ready to scale its digital future. That won’t happen without trust. People don’t use what they don’t trust. That makes cybersecurity foundational to driving economic resilience and growth across the continent. By doing more to connect public and private sector efforts and share best practices, we can strengthen collective defense and secure a more confident and inclusive digital economy.”
As Africa’s digital economy is projected to reach $1,5-trillion by 2030, the need for greater collaboration has never been more urgent. Cybercrime across Africa is rising sharply, resulting in significant economic losses each year, with only an estimated 35% of incidents officially reported.
This underreporting is driven by cyber maturity gaps, limited detection capabilities, and reputational concerns, thus creating a fragmented view of the threat landscape and weakening coordinated response efforts across the region.
South Africa is the continent’s most targeted market, accounting for around 29% of ransomware attacks and 40% of phishing incidents in Africa, while Nigeria ranks among the most affected markets for ransomware and dark-web threat activity.
The multi-year initiative will be led by Mastercard and. it will begin a phased rollout in 2026. Starting with South Africa and Nigeria, through this collective model, it is intended to support the strengthening of cyber resilience and preparedness and enable more secure digital growth across Africa.
Operating as a pan‑African hub delivered through connected digital platforms and capabilities, the Center will help participating organisations gain greater visibility into emerging threats. This includes a first‑year ecosystem cyber risk analysis covering up to 50 organisations, alongside access to an Africa‑focused threat intelligence feed developed by Recorded Future, a Mastercard company.
Through collaboration among CISOs, business leaders and security practitioners – enabled by secure information‑sharing, joint exercises and coordinated response – the Center will strengthen a more connected and resilient cybersecurity ecosystem across Africa.
The Centre of Excellence is designed to evolve over time, expanding its capabilities as market needs develop. At the heart of the initiative are three core pillars:
- Threat intelligence and strategic insights: Providing participating organizations with Africa-focused threat intelligence, including cybersecurity intelligence assessments across Africa and a shared view of risks.
- Collaboration and knowledge sharing: Bringing together CISOs, senior business leaders and security teams to support enhanced collective response capabilities and advance cybersecurity best practices across industries.
- Readiness and resilience: Helping organizations anticipate emerging threats through ongoing risk monitoring, resilience assessments, and scenario-based exercises designed to strengthen response and recovery capabilities.
Featured picture: Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard, and Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa