This collaboration will enable fintech players to build propositions on the enza platform that serve both consumers and businesses with embedded Mastercard payment solutions capabilities.

According to a report by the European Investment Bank, the number of fintech companies in Africa has nearly tripled since 2020.

Many of these innovators focus on embedding payment services into broader solutions that tackle financial access, offering alternatives to legacy systems that often have a high cost to serve.

Fintech companies in Africa will now be able to easily access the full suite of Mastercard services. The collaboration aims to reduce complexity and speed up time to market for emerging players building digital financial solutions across the continent.

“At Mastercard, we are focused on powering the fintech ecosystem by enabling access to our trusted global network. Through our work with enza, fintech innovators in Africa will be able to deploy embedded payment capabilities more efficiently – helping accelerate financial inclusion and the region’s digital transformation,” said Mete Guney, executive vice president, Market Development, EEMEA, Mastercard.

As part of the agreement, enza will host consumer and merchant accounts, manage integration with Mastercard’s network, and ensure high levels of security and system availability.

Fintech companies can configure pre-paid or post-paid accounts, and issue physical or virtual Mastercard cards.

For businesses, enza will enable acceptance of Mastercard payments across in-store, online and in-app channels.

“enza is on a mission to make digital payments more accessible and affordable across Africa, helping to build a more financially inclusive continent that is ready and able to compete globally.

Our collaboration with Mastercard leverages our existing relationship to more effectively serve the fintech community. Together, we will provide innovators with a platform capability that means they do not need to build this aspect of their proposition and can get to market with greater speed and security,” said Andrew Key, executive director, enza.

Founded in 2023, enza is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with regional offices in Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria.

The company’s innovative payment infrastructure delivers the flexibility and agility needed to increase competitiveness, capitalize on new markets and develop new revenue streams through better serving consumer and business customers across Africa.

The startup has secured a $6 million seed investment, backed by Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital, to build a solid infrastructure that bridges the gap between banks, fintechs, and merchants.

Enza is a payment processor that presents itself as the missing link in Africa’s financial sector. While established giants like Flutterwave and Moniepoint have focused on merchant acquiring, Enza is targeting both sides of the transaction—helping banks issue payments while also enabling merchants to accept them seamlessly. The startup’s first markets are Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa, three of Africa’s biggest financial hubs.

The company’s strategy includes making transactions more accessible and helping banks and fintechs build lasting relationships with small businesses. Once those businesses are plugged into the system, banks can offer additional services—loans, savings, insurance, and more.

“Payments are the gateway,” says Andrew Key, an executive director at Enza. “But the value is in the data and the services you can layer on top.”

This approach comes at a time when African banks are realising they have surrendered too much ground to fintechs. For years, startups have taken the lead in serving small and medium-sized businesses, leaving traditional banks struggling to catch up. Now, Enza wants to provide banks with the technology they need to reclaim their competitive edge.

“Banks have realised they gave up too much ground to fintechs,” Houston said. “We want to give them the tech to compete and win it back.”

One of Enza’s key advantages is its deep integration with both local and global payment networks. The company’s system connects with regional card schemes like Nigeria’s Verve, Egypt’s Meeza, and Africa-wide AfriGo, alongside international giants Visa and Mastercard. It also links to real-time payment networks such as NIBSS (Nigeria), PayShap (South Africa), and InstaPay (Egypt), as well as mobile money platforms, QR codes, and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services.

Transparency is another huge focus. Many banks find it hard to monitor what their payment aggregator partners or downstream merchants are doing. Enza claims its platform will give banks better oversight of their payment ecosystems, ensuring compliance while allowing them to scale.

Despite launching operations just last year, Enza has already secured over 10 million monthly transactions across six African markets: Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, and South Africa. The company’s transaction volume is growing at an impressive 35% to 40% per month, with expectations to double within two years.

Enza’s founders aren’t newcomers to the industry. Fekry previously served as chief commercial officer at Emerging Markets Payments (EMP), which was acquired by Network International, where he later became managing director. Between them, the Enza leadership team has worked with nearly 200 banks, but this time, they’re focusing on quality over quantity.

“We’re not trying to replicate that scale,” Houston explained. “We’re targeting 30 to 40 high-quality bank relationships.”

The startup was self-funded in its early days before turning to external investors. Rather than chasing widespread interest, the founders opted for a more strategic funding approach, bringing Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital on board.

“The Enza leadership team has an impressive track record of starting, growing, and exiting fintech businesses across the continent,” said Tarek Assaad, managing partner at Algebra Ventures.