Mastercard and OPay announced a strategic partnership to open up digital commerce to millions of people across Middle East and Africa.

The partnership will enable OPay consumers and merchants in the region, including Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa and the UAE, to engage with brands and businesses anywhere across the globe with a Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to the OPay e-wallet.

“As the leading fintech in the Middle East and Africa, we are delighted to be partnering with Mastercard as we continue on our journey to promote financial inclusion, helping to open up the global economy to more consumers and businesses across Middle East and Africa,” Yahui Zhou, CEO of OPay, said.

Mastercard’s is collaborating with OPay to expand access to digital payments, enable multiple lifestyle services, create new pathways to financial inclusion and support the next generation of super-apps.

“At Mastercard, our innovation strategy is rooted in partnerships to support inclusion at scale. Our partnership with OPay demonstrates our commitment to supporting payments providers across the world to create an interconnected global payments ecosystem that benefits an array of consumers with unique needs,” Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President for Market Development, Mastercard EEMEA, stated.

In the initial phase of this partnership, OPay customers will benefit from the Mastercard virtual payment solution linked to their OPay wallets, to shop at global brands. The service is available regardless of whether or not the customer has a bank account. It also allows small business owners to purchase from suppliers abroad and pay with the secure virtual payment solution.