Location
Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Kenya and Tanzania
Stakeholders involved
Multinational corporations, including Mastercard and Microsoft; technology; multilateral development banks, African Development Bank (AfDB); local commercial banks including Equity Bank; national farmer federations, including Kenyan National Farmers Federation; multilateral development organizations, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development; development NGOs, including Heifer International.
Lead organization
Scale
AfDB pledged to align USD $300 million of existing programs to reach 10 million beneficiaries. Mastercard Community Pass committed to deliver critical digital services to 10 million people in Africa. The aim is to reach 100 million individuals and businesses in Africa by 2034.
million (USD) of existing programs
million beneficiaries
million people in Africa
million individuals and businesses in Africa by 2034
Co-investment model
AfDB and Mastercard formed the Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa in May 2024 with the aim to provide digital access to critical services for 100 million individuals and businesses in Africa by 2034. This new type of partnership is a coordinated set of ecosystem actors with complementary strengths that focus efforts on the same communities and to multiply and sustain impact in the local private sector, aligning government, private and development sector resources.
The MADE Alliance operates through the layering of individual members' investments in the same geographies. The Alliance leverages members' existing capacities and investments through a model that becomes commercially sustainable over time and avoids long-term dependence on grant-based development funds. While concessionary finance and philanthropy are part of the financial model, it leverages these tools to catalyze profit-based models and scale through de-risking and investment in equipment and capacity building. The MADE Alliance seeks additional members to layer on equity, debt and grant-financing investments.
Impact
billion people
million micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises
An estimated 1 billion people and 50 million micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in the formal economy have benefited so far through Mastercard's commitment to financial inclusion and 250 million people have already received internet access through Microsoft's commitment to corporate responsibility. The program aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 5, 8, 12 and 17.
Levers and enablers
The Alliance engages private, public and civil sector stakeholders to focus their work on the same communities for multiplied and sustained impact. It designs its multi-stakeholder approach to create efficiencies in the use of resources that should make raising financing attractive, offering opportunities for organizations to deliver on development and sustainability priorities, as well as commercial returns.
Barriers
Moving from the commitment of members to execution is key to success. There is also a need for grantmaking organizations to de-risk the private sector’s entry into higher risk market segments, such as smallholder farmer financing.
Lessons for scaling
- Encourage the layering of the work of multi-sector partners in the same communities for multiplicative impact for implementation in other regions.
- Formalize the work in a charter and set of guiding principles that can serve as a basis for replication and adaptation in further geographies and sectors.
- Secure membership support of international development institutions and multinational corporations to transform global agrifood systems through digital access to critical services.
- Use debt funds, equity, government funding and other solutions to scale them at the national level.
