The World Bank Group has signed on as co-chair of the Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa, joining current co-chairs the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and Mastercard in an initiative to provide digital access to critical services for 100 million individuals and businesses across Africa by 2034.
The MADE Alliance: Africa aligns with the collective efforts of the three major institutions to accelerate digitalization by expanding access to secure, affordable, high-quality broadband and data connectivity, and ensuring different digital services work together seamlessly to benefit users.
As the co-chair of the alliance, the World Bank Group will contribute to the initiative its expertise, data driven insights, and experience supporting sustainable digital transformation.
Commenting on the bank’s role on the digital access financing deal Vice President for Digital at the World Bank, Sangbu Kim, said: “The World Bank Group is deeply committed to expanding inclusive digital access across Africa, and joining the MADE Alliance will help accelerate efforts to improve livelihoods, empower communities and drive economic growth across the continent.
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“By bringing together our digital expertise, global knowledge, and local experience, we can help scale lasting, transformational impact”, the banker added.
The MADE Alliance: Africa is prioritizing opportunities in the agriculture sector, where digital technologies can serve as powerful catalysts for development. World Bank-supported “Digital Agriculture Roadmaps,” tailored country action plans, will enable the MADE Alliance to impact more farmers.
In his remarks, the AfDB’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Dr. Beth Dunford, enthused: “Two of the African Development Bank Group’s priority areas are to Feed Africa and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa. The MADE Alliance: Africa brings us closer to achieving those goals by connecting the continent’s smallholder farmers to digital services that lead to greater food production, greater access to markets, financing and farming practices, as well as to increased incomes.”
In his remarks, Founder and Executive Vice President of Community Pass, Mastercard, Tara Nathan, said:. “The MADE Alliance: Africa brings complementary partners together to execute and implement programs that target the same regions and communities, allowing us to amplify our impact.
“The World Bank brings enormous expertise in digital transformation and agriculture, and we are honored they have joined the alliance to deploy resources more efficiently and accelerate our work to help bring everyone into the digital economy”, he added.
Since its launch in May 2024, the MADE Alliance: Africa has made significant progress with projects underway across the continent.
For instance, in Tanzania, the alliance is supporting the provision of payment tools to 50,000 sunflower farmers. In Kenya, alliance members have deployed affordable high-speed internet digital skills training for 13 farmers’ cooperatives, reaching approximately 10,000 farmers and their communities.
This is even as the Kenya National Farmers’ Federation is receiving funding from the AfDB Group to build the capacity of 250,000 farmers in Kenya to improve their bankability to financial institutions.
The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Dev elopment (IFAD) also joined as a member in April 2025. Other MADE Alliance members include Equity Bank Group, Microsoft, Heifer International, Sustainable Agriculture Foundation, Unconnected.org, Yara, Kenya National Farmers’ Federation, Shell Foundation, Tanzania’s CRDB Bank, and Syngenta Foundation in Kenya and Nigeria
