Nomba raises $3 million debt facility to scale Africa-Asia cross-border payments

Nomba, the Lagos-headquartered fintech startup, has raised a $3 million debt facility through CardinalStone Finance Company Limited to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure.

The company announced the fundraising in a statement shared with Nairametrics on Thursday.

According to the company, the facility will be used to scale its cross-border payments infrastructure out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as it targets more than $1 billion in monthly cross-border payment volume.

The funding gives Nomba additional US dollar liquidity to deploy through its banking relationships in Hong Kong and Singapore, positioning its DRC operations as a settlement hub for trade between Central Africa and Asia.

What they are saying

Nomba CEO Yinka Adewale said the facility created room to move more liquidity across more corridors at faster settlement speeds, while signalling wider confidence in the company’s infrastructure play.

• “African businesses are trading more with the rest of the world every year, but the infrastructure to support that trade is still catching up. This facility gives us more room to move — more liquidity, more corridors, faster settlement. It’s also a strong signal of confidence in what we’re building for the next generation of African businesses,” he said.
• “We plan to keep scaling our cross-border infrastructure this year, expanding into new African markets and deepening the payment links between Africa and its trading partners in Asia,” he added.

CardinalStone Finance MD Ayoola Adeola said the transaction reflected confidence in both the cross-border payments opportunity and Nomba’s specific positioning within it.

• “This transaction reflects our confidence in the growth opportunity presented by cross-border payments, and the role innovative financial infrastructure can…