Nomba Is Building a Cross-Border Payments Network for African Businesses

For businesses trading across African borders, moving money can be almost as difficult as moving the goods themselves. Different currencies, banking systems and settlement requirements can make cross-border transactions slower and more expensive than domestic payments.

Nigerian fintech Nomba is building its business around solving part of that problem, and the company is now expanding its cross-border payments infrastructure beyond Nigeria.

The company has secured a US$3 million debt facility from CardinalStone Finance Company Limited to strengthen its cross-border payments business, beginning with the Democratic Republic of Congo and followed by planned expansion into Zambia and Uganda.

Founded in 2017 by Yinka Adewale and Pelumi Aboluwarin, Nomba, formerly known as Kudi, has evolved from a payments startup into a profitable omnichannel payment service provider.

Its latest expansion reflects a broader shift in the company’s business model. Rather than focusing only on domestic merchant payments, Nomba is building infrastructure that can support businesses moving money between African markets and international trade corridors.

Nomba currently processes more than US$480 million in cross-border payment volume each month through its DRC operations and Canadian-licensed money service business. The company is targeting more than US$1 billion in monthly cross-border payment volume as it expands.

The DRC has become an important part of that strategy because of its position in regional trade. Nomba is using the country as a base for settling trade between Central Africa and Asian markets, with the new financing expected to help the company expand this infrastructure.

The company is also looking beyond individual transactions. Its model involves building the financial rails that businesses need to collect, move and settle money across markets, an area that becomes increasingly important as African companies expand beyond their home countries.

Nomba’s latest facility comes after the company raised US$30 million in pre-Series B funding in 2023, adding another layer of capital as it moves deeper into international payments.

The planned expansion into Zambia and Uganda will give Nomba access to additional markets while testing whether its cross-border infrastructure can be replicated across different regulatory and financial environments.

For Nomba, the opportunity is bigger than simply processing more payments. As African businesses increasingly trade across borders, the companies providing the infrastructure behind those transactions can become an important part of how that commerce works.

The next phase of Nomba’s growth will therefore be about taking what it has built in Nigeria and extending it into a wider African payments network.