In one of the most inclusive fintech rollouts in African history, Twiga Foods and Mastercard have launched a continent-first initiative to bring digital commerce and financial services to 500,000 informal retailers—locally known as “dukas”—across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, using only basic mobile phones and WhatsApp. Announced on November 6, 2025, the program dismantles the myth that digital transformation requires smartphones or high-speed internet, instead leveraging Africa’s near-ubiquitous USSD and mobile money infrastructure to empower the backbone of urban and peri-urban retail.
The partnership integrates Mastercard’s Open Banking APIs with Twiga’s AI-powered supply chain platform to deliver three core services to shop owners:
- Digital storefronts accessible via WhatsApp, where customers can browse inventory and place orders
- AI-driven inventory recommendations based on historical sales, weather, and local events
- Instant microloans (ranging from $10–$500) disbursed directly to mobile wallets, with repayments auto-deducted from daily sales
Crucially, the entire system operates via USSD menus and WhatsApp chatbots, requiring no app download, data plan, or smartphone. Shop owners simply dial a short code or message a Twiga bot to access their dashboard.
Early pilots in Nairobi and Kampala showed dramatic results: participating vendors saw average revenue increase by 40% within 90 days, reduced stockouts by 60%, and gained access to formal credit for the first time. One vendor in Mathare, Nairobi, used a $120 loan to stock refrigerated drinks during a heatwave—doubling her daily profit.
The initiative is backed by $20 million in strategic funding from Mastercard and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of a broader $100 million commitment to digitize informal trade in Africa. Twiga CEO Peter Njonjo called it “financial inclusion without compromise”: “We’re not asking shop owners to change their behavior. We’re meeting them where they are—with the tools they already use.”
This model addresses a critical gap: while Africa has over 30 million informal retailers, fewer than 5% have access to formal credit or digital tools. By embedding finance into daily sales flows, Twiga and Mastercard create a virtuous cycle of data, trust, and creditworthiness—without requiring collateral or credit history.
The program will scale to Uganda and Tanzania by Q1 2026 and could eventually reach 2 million shops across East and Central Africa. Regulators have praised the design for its consumer protection safeguards, including transparent interest rates and opt-in consent for data sharing.
For Mastercard, the move deepens its footprint in Africa’s real economy beyond card issuance. For Twiga, it transforms the company from a B2B supplier into a full-stack retail enablement platform. And for millions of shop owners, it’s the first step into the digital economy—on their own terms.
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