For the past year, Nomba, a Nigerian fintech valued at over $150 million, has been establishing operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa’s fourth most populous country, as it seeks new growth in a market where most people remain unbanked and cash reliant.
Nomba offers payment and banking services for businesses and individuals in Nigeria, and also allows users to send and receive money from outside Nigeria. The fintech started its expansion into Congo with remittances and is recruiting physical agents to handle inflows from high-volume corridors like China and Dubai. After establishing itself as a remittance player, the company will then layer on additional products over time.
“From what we’ve seen, remittances are where money already flows for traders and small businesses in Kinshasa and across the DRC,” Henry Bankole, the country manager for Nomba’s Congo branch, told . “By starting there, we can quickly earn transactional trust and build the rails we need for payments and credit.”
Why DRC (and why now)
The DRC’s banking sector has long struggled to meet the country’s financial needs, as over 80% of the Congolese have never held a bank account. The country’s 18 banks collectively hold just $15 billion in deposits, and more than 90% of deposits and loans are denominated in U.S. dollars. Yet the sector remains highly profitable. Rawbank, the country’s largest lender, holds $4.7 billion in deposits and generated $514 million in revenue in 2024.
Nomba joins a growing list of Nigerian financial institutions like Access Bank, First Bank, Fidelity, and UBA that have entered the DRC in recent years. These banks have been drawn to the country’s young and growing population, its mining sector, and record profits that remain scarce elsewhere.
With Congolese banks largely focused on government, mining, and donor-driven activity, mobile money operators like Vodacom, Orange, and Airtel have stepped in to serve everyday Congolese users and now collectively hold over 24 million wallets. But the utility of these wallets remains limited to cash-in and cash-out transactions, as most customers withdraw cash immediately after they receive it.
Despite these market realities, Bankole believes that there is still a “huge gap” for digital banking. Unlike the country’s relatively small fintech industry, which focuses on already-digitised users, Nomba will target those who exist outside the financial net.
“If you pick 100 people on the streets of Kinshasa, you’ll probably not find up to five who have bank accounts,” Bankole said. “It’s still mobile-money-driven, mostly because of distrust for the (banking) system. They’re content with just sending and receiving money, but that’s not enough.”
For now, Nomba is focused on using the high-frequency, high-volume remittances market as its entry point into the DRC market, and the agents it recruits to drive remittance flows today will eventually serve as its channel for converting everyday consumers.
“The core mission is to ensure that we provide financial services to underserved people,” Bankole said. “That’s one of the compelling reasons we chose Congo. We think it’s our entry point into Central Africa, where the problem is still massive. We’re the type of people who take the high-risk, high-reward route.” Bankole previously worked as a sales manager at Nomba before founding his startup and has now returned to the company to spearhead its expansion into the DRC.
Nomba will have to compete against banks with deep pockets and four mobile money operators that collectively generated $174.2 million in revenue in 2024. First Bank alone has plans to onboard 100,000 agents in the next four years, creating a competitive environment that the fintech will need to stand out in.
“There are competitors, yes, but the space is still a blue ocean,” Bankole said. “We’ve developed our own playbook. In the remittance space, we’re one of the key players today, because there aren’t many competitors, so we’re essentially a first mover.”
By partnering with existing agents, Nomba can bridge the competitive disadvantage between more established banks and mobile money providers, giving it broader access to customers. But, like in Nigeria, its home market, most agents are fickle and non-exclusive, creating an environment where Nomba has to continually incentivise agents to stay loyal.
Nomba’s bet is that a significantly better product experience for both agents and end-users will help it retain its network and compete more effectively. Over the next 12-18 months, the fintech will continue to secure partnerships and run live invoice collections via wallets for merchants.
Although the Congolese branch operates independently from its Nigerian headquarters, Bankole still receives product, compliance, and funding support from Nigeria. That autonomy has allowed him to tailor the product to the Congolese market.
“The Nigerian playbook is good, it informs our product architecture, but user experience, language, and compliance must be DRC-specific,” he said.
So far, the biggest challenge for Nomba has been trust and liquidity. The DRC’s banking sector has suffered from a trust deficit after a history of crisis and the population’s over-reliance on cash. “Unlike Nigeria, where you can onboard online without meeting anyone, in the DRC people still prefer in-person assurance,” Bankole said. “Liquidity is another challenge because of agent float management and slow bank settlement times.”
Regulation, licencing and partnerships
The Central Bank of the Democratic Republic of Congo (BCC) regulates fintechs, banks, and mobile money operators, and the country’s apex bank has been friendly towards digital finance, as its financial inclusion strategy leans heavily on digitisation.
Before securing the licences it now needs to operate in the DRC, Nomba initially partnered with banks to enter the market. While it is still in the process of obtaining additional approvals, including payment services licences, the fintech has already implemented strict know-your-customer and transaction-monitoring procedures.
“We are aligned with FIU, BCC, and DRC AML laws. The AML framework in the DRC is established, though high-risk due to cash-based systems. We partner with banks and take cues from them to align our compliance processes to local standards while maintaining Nomba’s overall compliance framework.”
