As cross-border trade across emerging markets accelerates, a new generation of financial infrastructure players is stepping in to fix what many see as a deeply flawed system.
At the centre of this shift is Sika, a fast-rising fintech startup aiming to dismantle Africa’s dependence on Western-centric banking rails.
The company has secured $2 million in fresh funding from Aruwa Capital Management, a West African gender-lens growth equity firm, to scale its mission of building a more efficient financial market highway for Africa and the Global South.
Founded in 2023 by fintech engineer Emmanuel Ashirifi, Sika is positioning itself as a critical backbone for cross-border finance at a time when regional trade frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are gaining momentum.
Despite the growth in trade and investment flows, the infrastructure supporting financial transactions across many emerging markets remains fragmented and outdated. For decades, banks and businesses across Africa have relied on correspondent banking systems that route transactions through offshore institutions in global financial hubs such as London or New York.
This process often requires multiple currency conversions typically into US dollars or euros before funds reach their final destination. The result is higher transaction costs, slower processing times, and a persistent dependence on foreign currency liquidity.
Sika is seeking to eliminate this bottleneck through its proprietary ClearNet platform, a wholesale clearing network that enables financial institutions to settle transactions directly in local currencies. By leveraging automated multilateral netting, the system aggregates and offsets multiple transactions across participants, significantly reducing the need for intermediary banks.
The approach not only cuts costs but also enhances liquidity efficiency and reduces settlement risks for banks and corporate institutions operating across borders.
“Financial markets cannot scale efficiently without trusted infrastructure,” said Ashirifi. “While capital and trade are increasingly moving across emerging markets, the systems responsible for clearing, settlement, and risk management remain fragmented.”
Unlike earlier waves of African fintech innovation that focused heavily on consumer payments and retail lending, Sika operates in the less visible but highly lucrative business-to-business infrastructure space. Its clients include Tier-1 commercial banks, regional stock exchanges, corporate treasuries, brokers, and large-scale payment providers.
The startup has already established a presence across multiple jurisdictions, supporting clearing and settlement operations in more than 15 fiat currencies spanning Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.
With the new funding, Sika plans to expand its regulatory licensing footprint, strengthen its risk management systems, and grow its engineering team to support additional currency corridors across emerging markets.
For Aruwa Capital Management, the investment aligns with its strategy of backing high-growth companies that also demonstrate strong gender inclusion. Sika stood out during the firm’s due diligence for its leadership structure, with women making up 50% of its senior executive team and 37% of its overall workforce.
“Sika is addressing one of the most fundamental challenges facing financial markets across Africa and other emerging economies: the lack of efficient and trusted infrastructure for cross-border settlement,” said Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Founder and Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital.
As Africa pushes toward deeper economic integration, platforms like Sika could play a pivotal role in reshaping how money moves across borders—potentially unlocking faster trade, lower costs, and greater financial independence for the continent.
