Mastercard and TeamApt have partnered to expand digital payment acceptance for businesses across Africa.
The partnership focuses on integrating TeamApt's switching infrastructure with Mastercard's payments network to support transaction processing across online, in-store, and mobile channels.
Under the agreement, TeamApt will operate directly on Mastercard's global payments network as a non-bank acquirer. This status allows the company to onboard licensed entities for payment acceptance, transaction processing, and acquiring services, extending its existing card acceptance infrastructure to a broader base of merchants. At the same time, the arrangement is intended to allow more merchants to accept Mastercard payments across multiple channels, combining TeamApt's local market operations with Mastercard's international network reach.
Market context in Nigeria
Nigeria is home to more than 40 million MSMEs, according to Mastercard's 2026 SME Confidence Index, which also found that small businesses view digital payment solutions as important to scaling operations. Against this backdrop, expanding formal payment acceptance infrastructure is positioned as relevant to supporting business growth in the informal and small business segments of the Nigerian economy.
Folasade Femi-Lawal, country manager, West Africa at Mastercard, said expanding digital payment acceptance is among the ways to help small businesses in Africa compete and reach more customers, adding that the collaboration with TeamApt is intended to equip MSMEs and informal sector businesses in Nigeria with infrastructure to process transactions across channels, with the aim of supporting access to credit and cross-border trade.
Moreover, Dennis Ajalie, chief executive officer of TeamApt, said the collaboration builds on the company's work developing payments infrastructure for financial institutions and businesses, and is intended to extend those capabilities so businesses can accept payments across local and international channels.
Cross-border reach and ecosystem scale
The partnership is also framed around cross-border functionality, with Mastercard cards processed through TeamApt's infrastructure intended to be usable across merchant locations worldwide. This is expected to give customers access to international payment acceptance while allowing merchants to serve both domestic and international customers through a single infrastructure layer.
The collaboration also connects to the broader Moniepoint ecosystem, which has agent coverage across all 774 local government areas in Nigeria. In addition, this coverage forms one of the country's more extensive financial services networks, which is expected to support the distribution and adoption of the payment capabilities introduced through the Mastercard partnership.
