By Adedapo Adesanya
Global payments technology company, Mastercard, has partnered with a B2B commerce platform, Boost, to provide digital payment wallets and embedded supply chain finance to empower and expand small businesses in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector in Africa.
According to a statement, the collaboration will provide support to distributors, wholesalers, and retailers in the FMCG sector, all of whom will be provided with Boost’s innovative platform as a service to access essential working capital and Mastercard’s acceptance solutions.
Mastercard will enable Boost to offer digital payment and credit solutions to their micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) customers across their current and future markets, amplifying the company’s impact whilst contributing to Mastercard’s mission of fostering an inclusive digital economy.
The partnership aims to provide financial institutions with the capability to issue digital payment solutions and expand into the micro-retail space, whilst empowering merchants to digitise payments and access working capital.
Also, it will ensure a broader array of FMCG products for consumers with easier product payments through the availability of digital payment solutions.
This aligns with Mastercard’s plans of bringing a total of one billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025.
Speaking on the collaboration, Mr Mike Quinn, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boost said, “We are thrilled to enter into this scaling partnership with Mastercard in pursuit of Boost’s mission to enable small businesses to thrive in the digital economy, to create sustainable jobs and income.
“We have already proven that Boost’s model can scale widely across, and deeply within, emerging markets by building strong partnerships to digitize end-to-end supply chains between manufacturers and point-of-sale retailers.
“Mastercard will help us take our model to the next level to create transformative value for our customers and partners while fueling our global ambitions.”
For Mrs Folasade Femi-Lawal, Country Manager and Area Business Head, West Africa, Mastercard, the collaboration reiterates Mastercard’s commitment to including MSMEs in the digital ecosystem.
“We are excited to embark on this transformative journey with Boost, as we understand the challenges that small businesses face, By digitizing payments and creating a track record for their transactions, we will enable more MSMEs to access credit facilities and scale their businesses Through the delivery of integrated digital payment solutions and supply chain finance, we believe we are empowering MSMEs with essential tools to not only survive, but thrive.”
“This collaboration underscores our dedication to advance MSME growth in emerging markets and foster economic growth and financial inclusion through innovative digital solutions,” she added.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Business Post Contributor