By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian payments startup, Nomba, has secured a $3 million debt facility through CardinalStone Finance Company Limited to expand its cross-border payments infrastructure and scale its cross-border business from $480 million to $1 billion monthly.
Founded by Yinka Adewale and Pelumi Aboluwarin in 2017, and formerly known as Kudi, Nomba has evolved over the years into a profitable, omnichannel payment service provider.
The funding gives Nomba more Dollar liquidity to deploy through its banking relationships in Hong Kong and Singapore, positioning its Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) operations as a base for settling trade between Central Africa and Asia faster.
Across its DRC operations and Canadian-licensed money service business, Nomba – which raised a $30 million pre-Series B funding round in 2023 – processes more than $480 million a month, and it is now aiming to scale that to the $1 billion target and beyond after securing further capital.
“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 Mr 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,” he added.
Mr Ayoola Adeola, MD of CardinalStone Finance, said he was pleased to have structured the debt facility to support Nomba’s expansion.
“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.”
“We are pleased to have structured this $3 million debt facility to support Nomba’s expansion as it builds capacity across key Africa–Asia trade corridors,” he added.
