Aruwa Capital Management has led a $2 million investment in Sika Financial Group, backing the startup’s efforts to build financial infrastructure designed to streamline cross-border transactions across Africa and other emerging markets.
The investment, made through Aruwa Capital Fund II alongside co-investors, represents a seed extension round for Sika, a company founded in 2023 by Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Ashirifi. The deal underscores growing investor interest in financial infrastructure platforms seeking to address inefficiencies in emerging-market payments and settlement systems.
Sika develops technology that enables financial institutions, corporations, brokers, fintechs and liquidity providers to manage cross-border transactions more efficiently. Through its ClearNet platform, the company provides foreign exchange settlement, liquidity aggregation, multilateral netting, Payment-versus-Payment (PvP) settlement and market data services across frontier and emerging-market currencies.
The company is targeting a longstanding challenge across Africa and the broader Global South, where fragmented financial systems and dependence on correspondent banking networks often increase transaction costs and create settlement risks. While developed economies operate through mature clearing and settlement systems, many emerging markets continue to rely on bilateral relationships and manual processes that limit liquidity and capital efficiency.
The issue has become increasingly significant as trade and investment flows across Africa expand. Policymakers and financial institutions are looking for infrastructure that can support regional integration, particularly as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) seeks to strengthen trade among African economies.
Sika says its technology allows institutions to settle transactions directly across multiple currencies while reducing dependence on offshore financial centers and intermediary currencies. The company currently supports more than 15 currencies and has expanded operations across Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.
“Financial markets cannot scale efficiently without trusted infrastructure,” Ashirifi said in a statement. “We are creating the financial market infrastructure that enables institutions to transact confidently across borders while reducing risk, unlocking liquidity and improving capital efficiency.”
Aruwa Capital said the company’s focus aligns with its investment strategy of supporting businesses with both commercial growth potential and broader economic impact.
“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 and liquidity management,” said Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Founder and Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital.
The investment proceeds will be used to expand Sika’s regulatory footprint, strengthen its clearing and settlement systems, broaden currency corridors and increase investment in technology, enterprise partnerships and risk-management capabilities.
The transaction also reflects Aruwa’s gender-lens investment strategy. According to the firm, women account for half of Sika’s senior management team and approximately 37% of its workforce.
As cross-border commerce accelerates across emerging economies, infrastructure providers such as Sika are positioning themselves to become a critical layer in the movement of capital, payments and liquidity across fragmented markets.