Nomba Raises $3M Debt Facility to Expand Cross-Border Payments Across Central Africa

Yinka Adewale, Nomba co-founder & CEO

Nigerian fintech Nomba has secured a $3 million debt facility from CardinalStone Finance to expand cross-border payments infrastructure across Central Africa. The financing will increase its USD liquidity and support new payment corridors, including DRC-to-Zambia, as Nomba targets growing Africa–Asia trade and aims to process $1 billion monthly.

Why Has Nomba Raised $3 Million in Debt Financing?

Nigerian fintech Nomba has raised a $3 million debt facility through CardinalStone Finance Company Limited, the financing arm of CardinalStone Group.

The facility will support Nomba’s expansion of cross-border payments infrastructure across Central Africa, with a particular focus on increasing liquidity, improving settlement capabilities, and developing new payment corridors.

According to Nomba, the financing will provide additional USD liquidity through its banking relationships in Hong Kong and Singapore. Greater access to liquidity across currencies will allow the fintech to support more transactions, settle payments more efficiently, and deepen existing trade corridors while entering new markets.

“This facility gives us more room to move — more liquidity, more corridors, faster settlement,” said Yinka Adewale, Nomba’s chief executive officer.

Adewale said the company plans to continue expanding its cross-border infrastructure across African markets in 2026, while strengthening payment links between Africa and its trading partners in Asia.

Why Is the DRC a Key Market for Nomba’s Cross-Border Strategy?

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has become a central part of Nomba’s regional expansion strategy.

The opportunity is closely linked to the DRC’s commercial relationship with Asia, particularly China. In 2025, trade between China and the DRC reached $26.7 billion, comprising $21.6 billion in Chinese imports from the DRC and $5.1 billion in Chinese exports to the country.

That trade relationship creates demand for payment infrastructure capable of moving money between African businesses and international suppliers.

Nomba entered the DRC in November 2025, following several months of operations in the market. Its initial strategy focused on remittances, with the company recruiting physical agents to handle inflows from high-volume corridors, including China and Dubai.

At the time, Nomba positioned the DRC as its entry point into Central Africa.

Its strategy has since evolved from remittances toward broader business-to-business payments and cross-border trade infrastructure.

How Is Nomba Building Its Cross-Border Payments Infrastructure?

Over the past 18 months, Nomba said it has combined international banking relationships with local operations to address two of the major challenges facing cross-border commerce: currency access and settlement.

Through its DRC offering, businesses can:

• Collect payments online or through point-of-sale (POS) terminals.
• Accept payments through cards and mobile money.
• Use collected funds to pay suppliers in Asia.
• Access cross-border payment infrastructure designed around specific trade corridors.

This model allows Nomba to build payment infrastructure around existing commercial flows rather than relying solely on establishing a full local operating footprint in every market.

“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,” said Ayoola Adeola, managing director of CardinalStone Finance.

What Is Nomba’s Expansion Strategy Across Central and East Africa?

Nomba is using the DRC as a launchpad for broader expansion across Central and East Africa.

The fintech has already begun piloting a DRC-to-Zambia payment corridor and said it sees additional B2B demand connecting the DRC with Uganda, Kenya and Angola.

Rather than entering every market immediately with a large local operation, Nomba plans to use existing cross-border demand to validate individual corridors first.

Its approach can be summarized in three stages:

1. Identify established cross-border demand between African and international markets.
2. Build payment corridors that solve liquidity and settlement challenges.
3. Evaluate local market expansion once transaction volumes demonstrate sufficient commercial opportunity.

This corridor-first model could allow Nomba to expand its geographic footprint while concentrating capital on markets where cross-border payment demand is already demonstrable.

How Has Nomba’s Business Evolved Since Its 2017 Launch?

Nomba was founded in 2017 as Kudi.AI, an AI chatbot designed to help users process online payments.

In 2018, the company launched an agency banking solution before evolving into a broader provider of payments and banking services for businesses.

Its business model generates revenue by charging fees on transactions processed through its platform.

The company raised $30 million in a pre-Series B round in 2023, which valued Nomba at more than $150 million. The funding supported its expansion into additional business banking products and strengthened its position in Nigeria's fintech ecosystem.

The company has subsequently shifted a greater focus toward infrastructure supporting businesses that operate across borders.

What Does Nomba’s Lending Track Record Show?

Nomba’s expansion into cross-border payments follows its experience providing financial services to Nigerian businesses.

In April 2026, Nomba disclosed that its 18-month credit partnership with Globus Bank had disbursed up to $15.3 million to Nigerian businesses.

The company said less than 1% of those loans were classified as non-performing, indicating relatively low reported credit losses across the partnership.

This lending experience complements Nomba’s broader strategy of combining payments, banking and financial services for businesses.

How Much Does Nomba Process in Cross-Border Payments?

Nomba said it currently processes more than $480 million in cross-border payments each month across its DRC operations and its Canadian-licensed money service business.

The company plans to raise an additional $20 million to $50 million in debt financing in stages to increase its capacity to support cross-border trade.

Its longer-term target is to process $1 billion in monthly payments.

Nomba Cross-Border Payments Metrics	Figure
Latest debt facility	$3 million
Monthly cross-border payments processed	>$480 million
Additional planned debt financing	$20 million–$50 million
Monthly payment processing target	$1 billion
2025 China–DRC trade	$26.7 billion
2023 pre-Series B funding	$30 million
2023 valuation	>$150 million
Credit disbursed through Globus Bank partnership	$15.3 million
Reported non-performing loan rate	<1%

Nomba’s latest financing therefore represents more than additional working capital. The $3 million facility gives the company greater liquidity to build and scale payment corridors, while its planned $20 million–$50 million debt raise could provide significantly more capacity as transaction volumes grow.

With more than $480 million in monthly cross-border payment volume already reported, Nomba is positioning the DRC as the first stage of a broader Central and East African payments network.

The next phase will depend on whether emerging corridors such as DRC–Zambia can generate enough transaction volume to justify deeper market expansion—and whether Nomba can scale from its current $480 million-plus monthly volume toward its $1 billion target.

 

 

FAQs

1. How much did Nomba raise in its latest debt financing?
Nomba raised a $3 million debt facility through CardinalStone Finance Company Limited. The financing will provide additional USD liquidity to support its cross-border payments infrastructure and expansion across Central Africa.

2. What will Nomba use the $3 million debt facility for?
Nomba plans to use the facility to increase USD liquidity through banking relationships in Hong Kong and Singapore, support more cross-border transactions, improve settlement, and develop additional payment corridors.

3. Why is Nomba expanding in the DRC?
Nomba views the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an entry point into Central Africa. The company initially entered the market through remittances and is now expanding into B2B cross-border payments, supported by significant DRC–Asia trade.

4. How much does Nomba currently process in cross-border payments?
Nomba said it currently processes more than $480 million in cross-border payments per month across its DRC operations and Canadian-licensed money service business.

5. What is Nomba’s payment processing target?
Nomba aims to reach $1 billion in monthly payment processing. It also plans to raise an additional $20 million to $50 million in debt financing in stages to increase its capacity to support cross-border trade.