Mastercard Launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence
Mastercard Launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence
Publish Date: 2026-06-29 11:35:00
Source Domain: www.marketscreener.com
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. Mastercard announced the launch of 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 Cybersecurity Center of Excellence extends Mastercard?s expertise and network, bringing global competence and intelligence to one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies. The Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence has been established to support the strengthening of collective defense across the continent by bringing together financial institutions, public sector organizations and businesses to share intelligence, improve preparedness, anticipate threats earlier and build resilience over time.The multi-year initiative will be led by Mastercard. 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 Center 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 & strategic insights: Providing participating organizations with Africa-focused threat intelligence, including cybersecurity intelligence assessments across Africa and a shared view of risks. Collaboration & 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 & resilience: Helping organizations anticipate emerging threats through ongoing risk monitoring, resilience assessments, and scenario-based exercises designed to strengthen response and recovery capabilities. The launch of the Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence represents the next chapter in Mastercard’s broader mission to build trust in the digital economy. The company has invested more than $12.6 billion in cybersecurity innovation since 2018 and has supported the launch of more than 20 cybersecurity-focused startups.This marks a further step in Mastercard?s evolution from a payments network to a trusted technology and cyber intelligence partner, supporting the strengthening of cyber resilience across Africa and enabling secure, inclusive and sustainable digital growth. By working alongside governments, financial institutions and businesses of all sizes, including SMEs, Mastercard intends to help strengthen the digital foundations that underpin inclusive growth. By investing in capabilities that address the continent?s evolving realities, Mastercard seeks to support the development of a more secure and resilient digital future across the markets in which it operates.
