Shiga’s story began far from the world of blockchain and digital assets. Its founders, Abiola Shogbeni and Dami Etomi, first ran a physical supply business, transporting cattle to Ogun State, where they were slaughtered and supplied to major retailers such as Shoprite.
But running the business exposed them to a problem that would eventually change the direction of their careers: moving money across borders was far more difficult than moving goods.
In one instance, converting British pounds into naira was so difficult that they had to rely on a physical cash swap with a Chinese businessman rather than go through the formal banking system.
The experience highlighted a problem that many businesses involved in international trade still face today. Paying suppliers across borders can be slow, expensive and complicated, particularly when different currencies and banking systems are involved.
The founders initially responded by moving into the traditional foreign exchange business. Then, in 2019, they came across blockchain technology, which offered a different way to move money.
For Shogbeni and Etomi, the attraction was straightforward, access to hard currency over the internet without having to depend entirely on traditional financial institutions.
As demand for stablecoins grew, they began to see an opportunity to build the infrastructure that local businesses needed to access global markets more easily.
In 2021, they left their banking jobs and returned to Nigeria to pursue the idea. The business has since attracted backing from major players in the digital asset industry, including Tether.
From a wallet to the payment infrastructure behind it
Today, Shiga focuses on making cross-border payments easier for businesses and individuals, using blockchain and digital assets to connect local financial systems with international markets.
Its operations centre on two products: Enta, its wallet application, and Pulse, the technology that supports payments and settlements behind the scenes.
Enta, which was initially known as Enter, allows individuals and businesses to access and manage digital assets through an on-chain wallet. The idea is to give users more direct access to financial services without requiring them to navigate every step of the traditional banking process.
The founders compare this shift to the move from physical mail to email. Just as email made it possible to send information across the world almost instantly, blockchain-based systems can make it easier to transfer value across borders.
Pulse serves a different purpose. Rather than being designed primarily for individual users, it provides payment and settlement infrastructure that other businesses and financial institutions can integrate into their existing systems.
This means a company does not necessarily have to build its own digital asset payment infrastructure from scratch before it can offer such services to customers.
The two products address different parts of the same problem: Enta gives users access to the service, while Pulse helps other businesses incorporate the underlying payment technology into their operations.
There is already evidence of demand for the platform. Shiga says its V2 products have processed more than $450 million in transaction volume, reflecting the scale of activity moving through its system.
Who holds the money?
One of Shiga’s key selling points is that it owns much of the infrastructure supporting its services, rather than depending entirely on third-party providers.
According to Shogbeni, this gives the company greater control over its operations and helps it offer competitive pricing.
Shiga earns revenue through transaction fees and by providing payment infrastructure to other businesses. For example, it can receive a portion of the fees generated by banks offering virtual accounts powered by its technology.
The company also places emphasis on how users hold their digital assets.
Shiga uses a self-custodial wallet model, under which users retain control of their private keys rather than leaving their assets in a central pool controlled entirely by the platform.
Etomi argues that this distinction is important because users can retain access to their wallets even if Shiga itself stops operating. The wallet is linked to records on the blockchain, rather than existing solely within the company’s own system.
However, self-custody also comes with responsibility. Users must protect their private keys and recovery information, because losing access to them can mean losing access to their assets. The model also does not eliminate every risk associated with digital assets or the services connected to them.
How it works for a Nigerian importer
The real test of Shiga’s model is how it works for businesses that need to pay suppliers outside Nigeria.
Consider a Nigerian importer who needs to pay a supplier in the United Kingdom, the United States or the United Arab Emirates.
Under the model described by Shiga, the importer can send naira into a designated virtual account. The system converts the funds into a stablecoin, which is then used to access global liquidity and facilitate payment in the required currency.
Depending on the transaction, the supplier can receive payment in pounds, euros, dirhams or US dollars.
The process is designed to reduce the number of intermediaries involved and make it easier for businesses to move from local currency to international payments.
For an importer, this could mean fewer delays in settling invoices. For a business managing several overseas suppliers, it could also make payments easier to organise and manage.
The benefits, however, depend on the exchange rate offered, transaction fees, available liquidity, compliance requirements and the ability to complete the final payout. Blockchain technology can change how a payment moves, but it does not remove every cost or regulatory requirement involved in international trade.
What it could mean for African trade
For many African businesses, the difficulty of making international payments remains a practical obstacle to growth. A company may have customers, suppliers and business opportunities in several countries but still struggle to move money between them efficiently.
Shiga is betting that blockchain-based payments can help close that gap.
Its approach is not simply about introducing another digital wallet. The broader ambition is to provide the infrastructure that allows businesses to send and receive money across borders without relying exclusively on the traditional banking system.
If the model continues to gain traction, it could make international payments more accessible to smaller businesses that lack the resources or banking relationships of larger companies.
But the bigger question is whether the technology can deliver consistently on cost, speed and reliability as transaction volumes grow, while meeting the regulatory requirements of the countries in which it operates.
For Shiga, the opportunity lies in making cross-border payments work better for businesses that need to trade beyond their home markets.
The company’s progress will ultimately be measured not only by the volume of transactions it processes, but also by whether businesses can pay suppliers more easily, manage their money more efficiently and reach markets that were previously difficult to access.