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Mastercard Launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to Help Secure the Continent's Digital Future

JOHANNESBURG, June 29, 2026--Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to help secure the continent's digital future

articleMastercard IncorporatedJune 29, 20266 min read/news/mastercard-launches-africa-cybersecurity-center-of-excellence-to-help-secure-the-continents-digital-future
Mastercard Launches Africa Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to Help Secure the Continent's Digital Future

About this update from Mastercard Incorporated

JOHANNESBURG, June 29, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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 announcement was made during a visit to South Africa and Nigeria by Mastercard CEO, Michael Miebach, reflecting Mastercard's long-term commitment to supporting Africa's digital transformation by helping organizations anticipate, withstand and recover from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. 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. This 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. His Excellency, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, said: "We recognize that for digitization 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." His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President of Nigeria, said: "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." As digital adoption accelerates across Africa, cybersecurity has become an imperative for economic growth. No single organization can face today's cyber threats alone. 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.

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President of South AfricaMichael MiebachJohannesburg, South AfricaCenter of ExcellenceSouth AfricaMastercardHis ExcellencyBola TinubuCyril Ramaphosadigital economyAfricadigital transformation