Nigeria’s Kudi changes name to Nomba

By Edlyn Cardoza

African Financial Technology Company recently changed its name to Nomba as it transitions into an omnichannel payment platform providing tools to enable businesses to grow. The company has expanded its range of services to provide easy-to-use business tools for all businesses to accept, process and manage payments online and offline. These tools will offer more businesses of all sizes across Africa a distinct gateway into the digital economy while enabling them to optimise their operations.

This solution could not have come at a more opportune time. From neighbourhood kiosks to high-brow restaurants and fashion stores, the small business segment in Nigeria is responsible for 86% of the total workforce through 41 million micro-businesses and 73,000 small and medium enterprises, as indicated by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) National Survey. Yet, payments in the retail sector in Nigeria are mainly offline, with over 25 million merchants yet to accept any form of digital payments. Many retail businesses that accept digital payments lack a unified platform to manage their businesses across multiple touchpoints and locations seamlessly.

From payment collection to trade financing to intelligent business reporting and even multiple location management, businesses largely depend on traditional financial services providers who do not provide the ecosystem of services that support their businesses. Having all of this on one platform will make a difference and make business easier.

With Nomba, underserved and full-fledged businesses can self-onboard in five minutes and order a full-service integrated terminal and dashboard designed to manage all their payment needs, whether in cash, cards, transfers, USSD or QR, across multiple channels and locations. Over the next six months, Nomba will extend the penetration of its POS terminals across the country, giving more businesses access to technology that delivers real-time oversight of all business transactions, whether they are a one-man business or a corporate, all on one dashboard. It also plans to expand its product offerings into invoicing, payroll management and other tools that boost the productivity of businesses.

The FinTech Company has appointed two key new executives, Jeffrey Williams as Vice President of Business and Toluwani Ijogun as Vice President Brand, Marketing and Communications, to drive this expansion. Harnessing their experience and expertise, Nomba will accelerate its expansion across the country, ensuring that over 350,000 businesses are equipped with all the tools required to run their businesses seamlessly by the end of the year.

As VP of Brand Marketing and Communications, Toluwani Ijogun will be responsible for brand strategy, including all consumer, business-to-business and partner marketing activities that advance the company’s goals. She will also oversee all internal and external communications, insights and marketing capabilities and analytics for the brand. Toluwani brings with her over 15 years of experience managing premium brands such as Guaranty Trust Bank; GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Plc; Philips across West Africa; Eat N’ Go (owners of Domino’s Pizza and Coldstone Creamery franchise in Nigeria); FSDH Group and most recently as Senior Vice President: Brand and Marketing for Kuda Bank where she played a pivotal role in the company’s growth in the Nigerian market. 

Jeffrey Williams-Edem brings over 18 years of experience in sales, business development strategy, digital payment and merchant acquisition spanning multiple industries. He joins Nomba as VP of Business from Interswitch, where he played an integral role in designing and deploying their first retail solution strategy for the micro, small and medium enterprise market in Nigeria. As Kudi transitions to Nomba, Jeffrey will be responsible for creating and driving the machinery to deliver on the business acquisition, new market development and revenue. He will also oversee the sales, business operations and the development of new products.

“Since our launch in 2017, our technology and insights have enabled merchants to earn and build successful businesses, transforming their own lives and that of others. Today, complimentary regulatory frameworks and well-thought-out partnerships with financial institutions have synergised to create an enabling environment for FinTechs to chart the future of payments, making access to digital payment solutions ubiquitous. Over the next five years, we will be leveraging these factors, as well as the experience and expertise Jeff and Tolu bring to deepen the penetration of digital payment solutions across the country, making payments easier for everyone,” said Yinka Adewale, Chief Executive Officer, Nomba.

Nomba started its journey in 2017 as a chatbot designed to simplify payments. However, in 2018 it evolved into a company whose distinct point of sale (POS) technology, partnerships with banks and other licensed financial institutions democratised access to banking products and services for merchants across Nigeria. This also includes core banking solutions such as opening savings accounts and loans. 

Today, there are over 150,000 businesses on the Nomba platform enabled to carry out card, cash, and bank transfer-related transactions for their businesses and on behalf of their customers. With over 10,000 new businesses’ monthly onboarding rates, Nomba currently processes over $16m in payments daily across more than 500,000 unique transactions.