Washington, 5 August, 2025 - The World Bank Group has signed on as co-chair of the Mobilizing Access to the Digital Economy (MADE) Alliance: Africa, an initiative aiming to provide digital access to critical services for 100 million individuals and businesses across Africa by 2034. The World Bank Group joins current co-chairs and founding members, the African Development Bank Group and Mastercard, aligning collective efforts to deliver critical digital services across the African continent.
The MADE Alliance aligns with the World Bank Group's efforts 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. The World Bank Group will contribute to the MADE Alliance its expertise, data driven insights, and experience supporting sustainable digital transformation.
The MADE Alliance is currently targeting opportunities in the agriculture sector, where digital technologies can serve as powerful catalysts for development. World Bank-supported "Digital Agriculture Roadmaps," which bring together stakeholders to design tailored country action plans, will enable the MADE Alliance to impact more farmers.
"The World Bank Group is deeply committed to expanding inclusive digital access across Africa and connecting farmers to the digital tools they need to reach markets, access finance, and grow their businesses. Joining the MADE Alliance will help accelerate both of these goals, driving economic growth and improving livelihoods across the continent," said Sangbu Kim, Vice President for Digital at the World Bank."By bringing together our digital and agriculture expertise, global knowledge, and local experience, we can help scale lasting, transformational impact."
The World Bank Group joined the MADE Alliance in late April at MADE Alliance: Africa's Steering Committee meeting held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina co-chaired the meeting alongside Sangbu Kim, Vice President for Digital at the World Bank, and Mastercard Vice Chairman and President for Strategic Growth, Ambassador Jon Huntsman.
"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," said Dr. Beth Dunford, Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the African Development Bank, which has committed $300 million to the first five years of MADE Alliance's programming. "The World Bank's demonstrated expertise in the digital connectivity and agriculture sectors enables the MADE Alliance: Africa to reach more farmers eager to be part of Africa's agricultural transformation."
"The MADE Alliance brings complementary partners together to execute and implement programs that target the same regions and communities, allowing us to amplify our impact," said Tara Nathan, Founder and Executive Vice President of Community Pass, Mastercard. "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."
Since its May 2024 launch, the MADE Alliance has made significant progress. Projects underway include:
- In Tanzania, MADE Alliance is supporting the provision of payment tools to 50,000 sunflower farmers.
- In Kenya, MADE Alliance members have deployed affordable high-speed internet as well as digital skills training for 13 farmers' cooperatives, reaching approximately 10,000 farmers and their communities.
- In Kenya, the Kenya National Farmers' Federation is receiving funding from the African Development Bank 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 Development 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, CRDB Bank and Syngenta Foundation in Kenya and Nigeria.
+++
