NALA, a Tanzania-founded payments infrastructure company, has secured an initial $25 million credit facility from Liquidity, with an option to scale to at least $50 million. The facility was arranged through Mars Growth Capital, the joint venture between Liquidity and MUFG Bank. The financing will provide working capital for NALA's stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure, enabling the company to pre-fund customer accounts as transaction volumes outpace its balance sheet. NALA's B2B platform Rafiki grew from zero to $1 billion in transaction volume within 18 months, with the company growing 5x over the past year. NALA still holds more than half of the $40 million equity round raised in 2024, allowing it to deploy debt strategically without diluting shareholders. The company now holds over ten licences globally and connects to 249 banks across 16 countries.

NALA secures $50M credit line for stablecoin-powered africa-asia expansion. The New York-headquartered fintech, founded by Tanzanian Benjamin Fernandes, opts for non-dilutive debt to scale its stablecoin payment network across emerging markets, a strategic shift from its prior equity raises. AU-Startups · Brick New York-headquartered global stablecoin payments company NALA, founded by Tanzanian Benjamin Fernandes, has secured a credit facility of up to $50 million from Liquidity through Mars Growth Capital. The financing, structured as a non-dilutive credit line, marks a deliberate move away from equity raises, allowing NALA to fund its operational liquidity needs for expanding stablecoin payment corridors across Africa and Asia without further shareholder dilution. The initial commitment is $25 million, with the potential to scale to $50 million or more, tied to the company's transaction volumes. This credit facility follows a $40 million Series A equity round in July 2024, led by Acrew Capital, with participation from DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, and Amplo. NALA stated that it retains over half of the capital from that previous round, making non-dilutive working capital a logical next step to support its rapid growth. The company's transaction volume increased 34x in the 20 months leading up to its Series A, and revenue grew tenfold in the 12 months prior to that round. This growth necessitated a different funding approach to pre-fund transfers and support larger enterprise clients using its infrastructure for collections and payouts. The shift to debt financing. The decision to pursue debt financing underscores a maturity in NALA's capital strategy. For fintechs processing high payment volumes, credit facilities offer a mechanism to finance liquidity-intensive operations without diluting equity. This is particularly relevant as the company expands its B2B payments platform, Rafiki, which aims to build payment rails for a billion users, mirroring the infrastructure plays of companies like dLocal in Latin America and Airwallex in Asia. Rafiki is designed to enhance reliability, manage treasury directly, improve error mapping, reduce user costs, and streamline payouts and collections. Liquidity, an Israeli-based fintech company, and Mars Growth Capital, a joint venture between Liquidity and Japan's MUFG Bank, specialize in providing growth capital and venture debt to technology companies. Their model often involves leveraging machine learning and decision science to assess and deploy capital. This type of financing is structured to align with NALA's real-time payment flows, a crucial detail for a company whose core business is facilitating instant cross-border transactions. Stablecoins and the African landscape. NALA's expansion of stablecoin payment corridors positions it within a competitive and evolving landscape in Africa. Stablecoins, pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar, offer a solution to currency volatility and high transaction costs that plague traditional cross-border payments in many African markets. Companies like Flutterwave and Chipper Cash are also exploring stablecoin integrations. Circle, a prominent stablecoin issuer, recently partnered with Sasai Fintech to accelerate USDC adoption across the continent. Yellow Card, a pan-African fintech, is also exploring stablecoin use cases for treasury operations and liquidity management. However, the path for stablecoin adoption in Africa is not without friction. Regulatory clarity remains a concern across various jurisdictions. While some central banks are exploring digital currencies, others have imposed restrictions, as NALA's founder Benjamin Fernandes experienced firsthand when Tanzania's central bank ordered him to shut down his initial company. Operators must navigate a patchwork of regulations, varying levels of digital literacy, and existing mobile money ecosystems that are deeply entrenched in many markets. The optimistic case for stablecoins rests on their ability to drastically reduce remittance costs - by as much as one-twentieth of traditional methods - and provide faster settlements. What this round buys. This $50 million credit line provides NALA with the necessary operational liquidity to pre-fund transfers and expand its stablecoin payment network. This directly addresses the challenge of managing liquidity for rapidly increasing transaction volumes, particularly in emerging markets where bank transfer delays and foreign exchange costs remain high. The funding will enable NALA to support larger enterprise clients and further build out its infrastructure, connecting its network of over 249 banks and 26 mobile money services across 16 countries. This non-dilutive capital extends NALA's runway, allowing it to focus on market penetration and product development, rather than immediate equity fundraising cycles. The specific action for operators on the continent is to observe NALA's execution in leveraging this debt to scale its stablecoin rails, and how effectively it navigates the regulatory and competitive nuances of connecting diverse African and Asian markets. Based on information available at time of publication. Trademarks and logos belong to their respective owners. Spot an error? Write to [email protected]. Editorial policy · Disclaimer.

NALA and Noah launch stablecoin settlement network for Africa and Asia. * NALA partners with Noah to launch a cross-border settlement network for instant currency conversion using stablecoins, targeting global companies in emerging markets. * Average fees for cross-border remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia remain high, prompting the rising demand for stablecoin on- and off-ramps like Rafiki's API. * The partnership focuses on improving payments infrastructure for business settlement in emerging markets by offering instant currency conversion to reduce FX risk and liquidity stress. NALA has partnered with UK-based payments infrastructure provider Noah to launch a cross-border settlement network that allows merchants in Africa and Asia to receive US dollar payments and convert instantly into local currencies using stablecoins. The new network is integrated into NALA's B2B payments platform, Rafiki, which launched in March 2024. It targets global companies operating in emerging markets that face delays, high fees, and trapped liquidity when moving money across borders. Under the arrangement, Noah provides US dollar virtual accounts that allow businesses to collect funds through standard bank transfers. Those funds are converted into stablecoins in real time, with compliance checks at entry. NALA then settles the value through Rafiki, connecting directly to banks and mobile money networks across its 18-country footprint. Cross-border remittances into Africa and Asia have exceeded $460 billion since 2022. Average fees to Sub-Saharan Africa remain at 8.16%, while many Asian corridors charge about 5%. NALA said demand for stablecoin on- and off-ramps has risen 100x over the past 12 months. Rafiki's API volumes grew 30x over the same period and now include partnerships with firms such as MoneyGram. Key takeaways. The partnership highlights a shift in how payments infrastructure is being built for emerging markets. Rather than focusing on consumer crypto use, companies like NALA and Noah are targeting business settlement, where delays of 2 to 3 days can strain cash flow and working capital. Stablecoins offer speed, but their impact depends on regulated links between digital dollars and local financial systems. The key constraint has been compliance and access to licensed payout rails. By combining global USD collection with local bank and mobile money distribution, the network aims to remove that bottleneck. For SMEs and platforms operating in high-inflation or dollar-scarce economies, instant conversion from stablecoins to local currency also reduces FX risk and liquidity stress. The model positions stablecoins not as speculative assets, but as backend plumbing for trade, payroll, and platform payouts. As regulators continue to tighten oversight, the next phase of adoption is likely to be driven by compliant infrastructure players rather than consumer-facing crypto products. Think someone else should see this? Next frontier. Stay up to date on major news and events in African markets. Delivered weekly. UDeep-dives into what's old and new in Africa's investment landscape. Delivered twice monthly.