Nigerian fintech Nomba has raised a $3 million debt facility through CardinalStone Finance Company Limited to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure connecting Central Africa with Asian markets.
The facility gives Nomba additional US dollar liquidity through its banking relationships in Hong Kong and Singapore, which the company plans to deploy in positioning its Democratic Republic of Congo operations as a settlement hub for trade between Central Africa and Asia.
Nomba currently processes more than $480 million a month in cross-border payments across its DRC operations and Canadian-licensed money service business, and is targeting more than $1 billion in monthly volume.
CardinalStone Finance managing director Ayoola Adeola said the transaction reflected confidence in both the cross-border payments opportunity and Nomba's positioning within it.
Nomba CEO Yinka Adewale said African businesses are trading more with the rest of the world every year, but that the financial infrastructure supporting that trade has not kept pace, citing funds getting stuck, unreliable currency access and settlement times running into days.
The company said it plans to raise a further $20 million to $50 million in debt in stages to continue expanding into new African markets and trade corridors. Nomba said its Nigerian and DRC operations are already profitable, giving it a base from which to fund the next phase of its cross-border expansion.
