MasterCard has announced that it will be collaborating with Meta to help digitise more small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) by providing online training courses and a webinar, according to media reports.
The webinar will feature insights from industry experts and a masterclass on how to deal with uncertainty. The course will be taken up by Nathan Furr, an author and associate professor at INSEAD. The event is going to take place on December 8, 2021.
Derya Matras, Meta Vice President of the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, told the media, “The challenges that small and medium businesses continue to experience as a result of COVID-19 are significant, and we remain firmly committed to supporting them in both recovering and, in due time, thriving. We are continuing those training efforts in partnership with Mastercard, helping further boost a burgeoning startup ecosystem to positively impact socio-economic growth across the region.”
He added saying that the primary goal of this partnership is to provide the necessary digital skills for startups and small businesses to survive, recover and deliver results online and offline. Speaking about the challenges, Matras included factors like access to training and digital tools, power supply interruptions and infrastructure.
Earlier last month, MasterCard teamed up with Mexico-based business banking company Jeeves to come up with a new card that allows companies to pay in any local currencies from anywhere Mastercard can be used.
With the help of this collaboration, MasterCard is hoping to contribute to a fast digital transformation that provides startups with the correct products that directly align with their needs and facilitate access to financial services.