NALA, a pan-African payments fintech operating across 18 nations, has announced a strategic partnership with the UK-based infrastructure provider Noah to revolutionize cross-border settlement. This collaboration introduces a specialized network designed to facilitate near-instant dollar flows into emerging markets across Africa and Asia. By leveraging stablecoin payment rails, the partnership aims to bypass the high costs and significant delays traditionally associated with global money movement.
Bridging the $850 Billion Liquidity Gap
The new settlement network is integrated into NALA’s B2B platform, Rafiki, which has seen its transaction volume explode from zero to $1 billion in just 18 months. This infrastructure is specifically designed to address an estimated $850 billion annual liquidity gap that currently plagues small and medium-sized enterprises in developing economies. Businesses can now collect US dollars globally via Noah’s regulated virtual accounts and convert those funds into local currencies within minutes.
Tackling High Fees and Fragmented Systems
Traditional remittance corridors to Sub-Saharan Africa remain the most expensive in the world, with average fees often exceeding 8% of the transaction value. NALA and Noah are targeting these structural inefficiencies by providing a 24/7 settlement layer that operates independently of local banking hours. This model eliminates the need for businesses to manage multiple fragmented banking relationships or suffer through multi-day waiting periods for capital to clear.
Regulatory Compliance and Scalable Infrastructure
To ensure trust and reliability, the partnership combines Noah’s identity verification and compliance monitoring at the point of entry with NALA’s extensive list of over 10 global regulatory licenses. This compliant "on-and-off-ramp" allows for the bilateral conversion between digital dollars and local mobile money or banking systems at scale. Benjamin Fernandes, CEO of NALA, noted that demand for stablecoin-based settlement has increased a hundredfold over the past year as global firms seek more predictable access to dollar liquidity.
Strategic Shift Toward B2B Services
This launch marks NALA’s continued transition from a consumer-facing remittance app into a robust infrastructure provider for global enterprises. The company’s Rafiki API has expanded thirtyfold in the last 12 months, securing high-profile partners like MoneyGram to support its growing network. By focusing on use cases such as global payroll, treasury management, and merchant collections, the firm is positioning itself as the primary operating system for money movement in high-growth markets.
The partnership between NALA and Noah represents a significant step toward modernizing the financial fabric of emerging economies through regulated stablecoin technology. By reducing the friction of international trade, the new network empowers businesses to preserve value and optimize working capital in volatile economic environments. As stablecoins evolve from speculative assets into a mainstream settlement layer, this collaboration sets a new benchmark for speed, transparency, and cost-efficiency in global finance.