Nairobi-(HAN) December 5, 2014. Public diplomacy and National Investment news. More Kenyans are set to enjoy greater access to financial services as a new $11 million grant secured by MasterCard’s Labs is expected to boost financial inclusion in Nairobi.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is offering the endowment to support the new MasterCard banking program aimed at providing credit in East Africa.
Through the grant over three years, the lab will generate new ideas with local entrepreneurs, governments and other stakeholders across East Africa, and rapidly move from concept to reality.
“Too many people lack access to the most basic financial services, leaving them trapped in a cash economy that imposes greater risks and costs on those least able to afford them,” said Ajay Banga, president and CEO at MasterCard.
Banga noted that the investment made by the Gates Foundation, coupled with the company’s strong innovation processes, will help create and scale financial services not just within Kenya but across East Africa.
MasterCard says the grant from the Gates Foundation will fund new markets entry, which may have been commercially too expensive.
The Gates Foundation works with the private sector, NGOs, governments and others to direct resources and expertise to address critical challenges that cannot be solved by market forces alone. With this grant, the foundation seeks to extend financial services to those whose economic lives are inhibited and eclipsed by a combination of local factors and institution-wide exclusion.VENTURES AFRICA
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