Tether and Shiga are expanding their partnership to develop self-custodial financial products for individuals, businesses and financial institutions across Africa and the Gulf region.
The initiative will use Tether’s open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK) and support digital assets including USD₮, Bitcoin and Tether Gold (XAU₮).
The partnership builds on Tether’s strategic investment in Shiga in 2025 and moves the relationship toward deployment of Africa-facing digital financial infrastructure.
Two Products: ENTA and Pulse
The collaboration centres around two products.
ENTA is intended for individuals, high-net-worth customers and businesses. Users are expected to be able to fund self-custodial wallets using local currency, US dollars or Bitcoin before holding or transferring supported digital assets.
Pulse, meanwhile, is being developed for banks, fintech companies and other institutions seeking to build products around payment corridors, treasury management and settlement flows.
Financial institutions will be able either to use infrastructure managed by Shiga or deploy the technology within their own environments while retaining control of keys, data and funds.
Nigeria Could Become an Important Market
Shiga has also confirmed that it is in the final stage of approval for a Digital Asset Intermediary license in Nigeria.
The approval remains pending. If granted, it would permit Shiga to offer regulated digital-asset dealing, broking and custody services to individuals and institutions in Nigeria.
Implications for Africa’s Payments Industry
The development comes as stablecoins continue gaining relevance for businesses exploring alternatives for cross-border payments, treasury, settlement and access to dollar-denominated digital assets.
For African fintechs and payment providers, institutional infrastructure capable of integrating digital assets with specific local payment corridors could create new partnership possibilities.
iBetAfrica Perspective
This is exactly the type of development that could bridge Africa’s fintech, crypto, payments and high-risk business ecosystems.
As infrastructure providers increasingly build specifically for African markets, local partnerships, compliance expertise, market visibility and payment connectivity will become increasingly valuable.
