Nomba, a Nigerian payments company founded in 2017 by Yinka Adewale and Pelumi Aboluwarin, has secured a $3 million debt facility to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure and increase monthly transaction volumes from $480 million to $1 billion. The company was previously known as Kudi.
The facility was provided through CardinalStone Finance Company Limited and will support Nomba’s cross-border operations, beginning in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), followed by Zambia and Uganda. The company plans to use the funding to increase the US dollar liquidity available to its payment network and support near-instant cross-border transactions.
Nomba currently processes more than $480 million a month across its DRC operations and its Canadian-licensed money service business. The company has previously raised $30 million in a pre-Series B round in 2023.
The DRC serves as Nomba’s base for settling trade between Central Africa and Asia. From there, the company plans to expand its payment infrastructure into additional African markets and increase connections between businesses on the continent and their trading partners in Asia.
“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,” said Adewale.
“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.”
Ayoola Adeola, MD of CardinalStone Finance, said the financing was structured to support Nomba’s expansion in cross-border payments.
“This transaction reflects our confidence in the growth opportunity presented by cross-border payments, and the role innovative financial infrastructure can play in connecting African businesses to global markets,” Adeola said.
