Caliza and Yala Partner to Streamline Cross-Border Trade Africa via Stablecoin Infrastructure

Caliza and Yala have partnered to integrate stablecoin-powered settlement into African trade corridors, enabling manufacturers and distributors to pay international suppliers more efficiently. For fintech professionals, this represents a significant real-world application of blockchain rails to solve liquidity and currency conversion hurdles in emerging markets, bypassing traditional correspondent banking delays for cross-border B2B transactions.

What was announced

The partnership integrates Caliza’s cross-border payments and treasury infrastructure into Yala’s platform, which functions as a "Trade Desk" for businesses expanding across Africa. Yala provides tools for local currency collection and distributor management; however, as these businesses scale, they face complex multi-currency settlement requirements. Caliza addresses this by providing dedicated USD virtual accounts and a dashboard for transaction monitoring.

The technical core of the arrangement involves using stablecoin infrastructure for the underlying settlement process. Caliza manages the conversion between stablecoins and fiat currencies, allowing payments to reach suppliers in major global markets including China, the United States, India, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and France. This infrastructure is designed to support a rapidly growing trade environment. Africa’s total merchandise trade reached $1.5 trillion in 2024, a 14% increase. With small and medium-sized enterprises accounting for 80% of the continent’s businesses and half of its GDP, the demand for streamlined international settlement is high.

The integration utilizes fully automated ledger processes to give Yala’s team greater visibility over flows that previously relied on multiple intermediaries. By automating these connections, Yala can facilitate trade without building bespoke integrations for every new corridor. The partnership expands Caliza's presence in payment corridors between Africa and the rest of the world, while giving Yala additional infrastructure to support businesses trading across international markets.

"African businesses move global trade every day, but they still face barriers to accessing the dollar. Our partnership with Yala shows what happens when that barrier falls. A payment that used to pass through several intermediaries is now funded in stablecoin and settled with the supplier in a single flow,"

Ezra Kebrab, CEO of Caliza.

The companies involved

Caliza is a US-based fintech specializing in cross-border payments and treasury management. The company focuses on providing infrastructure that bridges the gap between traditional fiat banking and digital asset rails, specifically targeting the friction inherent in international trade. Led by Founder & CEO Ezra Kebrab, Caliza has positioned itself as a provider of USD-denominated accounts and settlement networks for businesses operating in markets where dollar liquidity can be a significant constraint. The firm recently raised $5.3 million to support its expansion and technology development.

Yala operates as a Trade Desk specifically designed for manufacturers, distributors, and service businesses looking to scale across the African continent. Co-founded by CEO Babatunde Adebajo, the platform assists companies in navigating the complexities of new market entry by managing distributor networks and collecting local currency payments. By centralizing these functions, Yala allows suppliers to expand their footprint without the need to establish a physical presence in every jurisdiction. The company’s growth reflects the broader push toward intra-African trade and the integration of African SMEs into global supply chains, providing the necessary intelligence and operational support to manage cross-border commerce.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously tracked Caliza’s expansion into key emerging markets and its strategic alliances with major regional players. In 2023, the company announced its Caliza Launches in Brazil, Securing $5.3 Million to Enable Banks and Fintech Companies to Provide Their Customers Access to the U.S. Economy. This move established the firm's footprint in South America before its expansion into the African market. More recently, Caliza entered into a high-profile collaboration with one of Africa’s largest payment firms, as detailed in Flutterwave Partners with Caliza to Streamline Global Payments and Treasury Management. This prior coverage highlights Caliza’s consistent strategy of embedding its USD-centric infrastructure into existing platforms to solve localized liquidity challenges and streamline treasury operations for international trade participants.

What this means

This partnership underscores the shifting reality of B2B payments in Africa, where stablecoins are moving from speculative assets to essential plumbing for international trade. By bypassing the traditional correspondent banking system, which is often slow and expensive in African corridors, this model puts pressure on legacy banks to modernize their cross-border offerings. The use of USD virtual accounts as a buffer against local currency volatility is a direct response to the persistent dollar shortages in many African markets. It raises a critical question for the sector: as stablecoin-settled trade becomes more accessible to SMEs, will traditional SWIFT-based flows lose their dominance in emerging market trade finance?