With only six years left to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on time, international organisations, governments and corporations around the world are mobilising forces to drive sustainability across the board. And since this momentous and multifaceted task requires collective efforts, they are harnessing the power of partnerships to amplify their impact.
Leveraging financial inclusion to achieve SDGs: One such corporation is Mastercard, which is deeply committed to supporting the SDGs in line with its ethos of doing well by doing good. Bringing together its business assets to serve people and the planet, the company works to drive sustainable economic growth around the world.
Financial inclusion is a powerful tool that can help achieve several SDGs. It enables individuals and small businesses to access much-needed services and resources, participate in the formal economy and make meaningful contributions to sustainable development.
Recognising the immense potential of financial inclusion, Mastercard pledged to bring one billion people and 50 million small businesses worldwide into the digital economy by 2025, and is well on its way to reaching its target.
To date, the company has connected more than 48m small businesses to financial services, tools and other resources to support their resilience and growth. It has also equipped more than 1,650 social impact organisations with data tools to strengthen their capabilities to secure equitable outcomes using data science.
Driving Bahrain’s digital transformation: As one of the most dynamic and innovative countries in the region, Bahrain is a key focus market for Mastercard. Together with its partners from across the financial ecosystem, the company is helping advance the nation’s digital transformation in line with its ambitious Economic Vision 2030.
As an example, earlier this year, Mastercard entered a collaboration with The Benefit Company, Bahrain’s electronic network for financial transactions, to drive innovation and financial inclusion.
Harnessing the innovation potential of youth: Mastercard’s goals in Bahrain include sparking innovation and fostering local talent. And with its young, tech-savvy population with a median age of 33.4 years, the country provides an ideal environment for achieving these objectives.
The company recently reached a new milestone in its efforts with the launch of the Mastercard Challenge on Financial Inclusion for the SDGs under the theme ‘Solving for the Future’ in partnership with Bahrain’s Sustainable Development Ministry.
Run in collaboration with Benefit, Tamkeen and StartUp Bahrain, the competition invites the country’s university students to propose innovative ideas that can help accelerate progress on the SDGs through financial inclusion as a key enabler. Recognising the innovative spirit of youth, the challenge aims to ignite the creativity of Bahrain’s new generation to tackle urgent development issues across all 17 SDGs.
Prizes include complimentary enrollment in Mastercard Academy for one year, a visit to Mastercard’s Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in Dubai and a paid internship at Benefit to develop and scale the winning solutions.
Challenge winners will also gain access to technical expertise, mentorship and training from Mastercard and Benefit, and engage with selected Startup Bahrain resources and partners. The winning solution will also be presented on the sidelines of the Bahrain Fintech Forward Event in October 2024.
“At Mastercard, we are committed to harnessing the power of our vast global network to achieve the SDGs, and driving financial inclusion is an important part of our collective efforts. We are delighted to join forces with our valued partners in Bahrain to introduce the Mastercard Challenge that empowers youth to apply its immense innovation potential to ideate out-of-the box solutions to the world’s most urgent issues,” said Mastercard Division President for West Arabia Adam Jones.
The Challenge on Financial Inclusion for the SDGs marks a new decisive step on Mastercard’s journey of empowering young people across the region and beyond to actively participate in building a brighter and more resilient future for all.
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