Mastercard has announced a strategic investment in Nclude, a fintech focused VC investment platform launched in partnership with Egypt’s leading national banks — Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt and Banque Du Caire — to further boost Egypt’s vibrant fintech ecosystem and support the country’s digital transformation journey. Through investments in potential early-stage and growth-stage financial technology and financial technology-enabled enterprises, the collaboration will further broaden Egypt’s financial inclusion.

This news expands on Mastercard’s commitment to supporting the government’s initiatives and favourable policies in Egypt, which are both focused at transforming Egypt into a digital society that is financially inclusive by using the power of technology.

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“Our contribution to Nclude stems from our longstanding commitment to accelerate the country’s digital transformation, drive financial inclusion rates and to reinforce Egypt’s position as an innovation hub for the fintech industry in the wider region,” said Khalid Elgibali, Division President, Middle East, and North Africa at Mastercard. “We see a new door for opportunity in our collaboration with Nclude fund, where Egyptian fintechs can be offered an enabling environment to achieve their full potential.”

“Mastercard’s global platform and commitment to fintech is a great complement to the Nclude strategy. We are super excited to welcome their global expertise to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Egypt” said Basil Moftah General Partner at Nclude.” Fintech and fintech enabled companies are witnessing exponential growth in the market and we look forward to partnering with Mastercard to continue to fuel this growth and position Egypt as a Regional center of excellence for fintech innovation.”

Here Is What You Need To Know

• Following the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) clearance, Nclude was established in March 2022, and it immediately received an investment of $100 million from each of Egypt’s three national banks, in addition to eFinance and Egyptian Banks Company (EBC). With Mastercard, a pioneer in improving financial inclusion in Egypt and the world, joining in, Nclude Fund is fast becoming a go-to fund for fintechs wanting to grow their operations and services.

• Due to Mastercard’s commitment to promoting global financial inclusion, the firm has committed to bringing 1 billion individuals and 50 million micro and small companies, including 25 million women business owners, into the digital economy by the year 2025.

• In order to establish Egypt as an Innovation Hub for fintech companies across the Middle East and Africa, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is spearheading a strategy to upskill the country’s young in order to overcome talent shortages, improve access to financing, and enhance digital infrastructure. These initiatives are targeted on significantly raising the rate of financial inclusion in order to benefit all Egyptians, of which only slightly more than 56% are now incorporated in the formal economy. In addition to this, the programme is geared on addressing Egypt’s significant shortage of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans and improving the overall standard of the country’s individual and company financial services.

“Having Mastercard invest in Nclude is definitely a milestone for us. This fund will enable us to further support entrepreneurs in Egypt’s vibrant startup ecosystem who are driving fintech innovation and helping transform the country into a digital and financially inclusive economy,” said Eslam Darwish, Founding General Partner at Nclude. “The partnership with Mastercard will also help us provide ambitious founders with the tools they need to succeed and compete at local, regional, and global levels.”

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“We are excited to collaborate with the Nclude Fund in continuation of our efforts to increase financial inclusion in key markets like Egypt, underscoring our global goal of connecting one billion people to the digital economy,” said Adam Jones, Country General Manager, MENA Central at Mastercard. “Through this partnership, we aim to empower Egypt’s rapidly evolving fintech ecosystem in order to allow individuals and businesses to have access to quality financial services, thus promoting the growth of the country’s digital and formal economy.”

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh