Episode 343 - From World Cup Anchor to Tech Founder: Serving 40M People | Benjamin Fernandes

From Sports Anchor to FinTech Pioneer: Building Payment Infrastructure for the Next Billion

Join host Justin Forman as he sits down with Benjamin Fernandes, founder of Nala and Rafiki, for an extraordinary conversation about resilience, rejection, and revolutionizing cross-border payments. From covering the World Cup as a 21-year-old sports anchor in Tanzania to building infrastructure that serves millions across Africa and Asia, Benjamin's journey is filled with divine appointments, Stanford miracles, and the grit required to solve problems for the next billion customers.

This episode explores the massive diaspora remittance market ($129 billion to India alone), the entrepreneurial challenge of building FinTech infrastructure in emerging markets, and why the greatest export from developing nations might just be talent. Benjamin vulnerably shares the power of rejection as fuel, the importance of gratitude, and why sometimes you have to build the bridge for the next 200 entrepreneurs coming after you.

Key Topics:

• The $129 billion remittance market and why diaspora communities are economic powerhouses
• From failing high school to Stanford MBA: A miracle story of divine provision
• Building payment rails in Africa vs Asia: Infrastructure challenges and opportunities
• Why 30-35% of Nala customers are entrepreneurs funding businesses back home
• The power of rejection letters as entrepreneurial fuel
• Going church to mosque: The gritty early days of customer acquisition
• How migrants enable local economies to thrive in exponential ways

Notable Quotes:

"There's something that's very powerful when someone tells you you can't do something." - Benjamin Fernandes

"With privilege comes responsibility." - Benjamin Fernandes

"I don't believe the lowest income region the world should be charged the most amount for fees, for payments." - Benjamin Fernandes