------------------------------------------------------------------------ Egypt's Mediterranean Smart Cards Company (MSCC), an electronic payment processing company, will open its first international branch in Nigeria, the firm announced at a recent conference. Hoda Shoukry, CEO of MSCC, said that MSCC's Nigeria branch “will serve all of our West African clients, which currently include 35 banks, as an initial step towards increasing our market share and transferring payment technology to the African continent.” MSCC recently hosted its annual “Together for a Better Africa” conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, showcasing payment card industry innovations, sharing case studies from Africa's technology markets, and discussing the future of the industry. “Africa is a continent of nearly 1 billion people, many of whom are still trapped in non or under-banked environments where they rely on cash,” said Paul Edwards, chairman of MSCC. “Following the remarkable explosion of wireless communications in Africa, we see the electronic payments industry taking a similar trajectory, which will bring significant benefits to the whole African continent and significantly boost its national economies,' he added. At the conference, more than 150 delegates discussed mobile payment regulations, contactless applications and identifying retail opportunities, in addition to ATM related experiences, and harnessing Africa's potential through research and development. Cairo-based MSCC is owned by Actis, a private equity investor in emerging markets, and serves more than 75 banks across 25 countries.
