AXIAN Group and Mastercard enter new partnership, echoing MTN’s earlier play in digital payments

AXIAN Group, the pan-African infrastructure and services giant, has entered a new partnership with Mastercard in a move that mirrors MTN’s earlier push into the remittance and digital payments space. The collaboration is positioned as a step toward expanding financial inclusion across the continent.

This partnership comes just days after AXIAN rebranded its fintech division from Open Innovation and Fintech to Digibank and Fintech, alongside the appointment of new board members, making this its first major move since the restructuring.

Under the agreement, AXIAN and Mastercard will roll out a suite of digital payment solutions across Tanzania, Madagascar, Togo, Comoros, and Senegal. The launch introduces both virtual and physical cards, as well as merchant solutions, under AXIAN’s Mixx and MVola brands.

Erwan Gelebart, CEO of AXIAN’s Digibank & Fintech cluster, said the partnership is about giving customers practical tools to navigate today’s interconnected world. “Whether it is for shopping, for sending money across borders, or for managing their business securely from a mobile app, we are empowering our customers to thrive,” he said.

Mastercard echoed the sentiment. Mete Guney, Executive Vice President for Market Development (EEMEA), noted that technology continues to unlock new opportunities across Africa. “This partnership reinforces how we are enabling simple and secure ways to make payments and move money,” he said.

A core aim of the collaboration is to expand access to banking and payment services for underserved population groups that have traditionally been excluded from formal financial systems.

If this play sounds familiar, it’s because MTN made a similar move in 2018. Its partnership with Mastercard boosted MTN’s remittance services by linking local MoMo wallets to the global digital economy. The virtual and physical companion cards introduced then solved major barriers around international transactions for millions of African individuals and SMEs.

In the same vein, AXIAN’s customers will now be able to activate and top up virtual cards directly from the Mixx and MVola apps, access live exchange rates, and monitor or cancel transactions in real time, bringing a layer of flexibility and security to cross-border payments.