FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Business
Benjamin Fernandes
Age 33 · Cross-border payments and remittances · Tanzania
A Tanzanian founder building consumer remittance and enterprise settlement rails for emerging markets.
- Approximate age at the edition boundary
- 33
- Field
- Business
- Country or region
- Tanzania
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 81.4 / 100
Profile
Career and operating record
Benjamin Fernandes has built NALA around the operational failures of cross-border payments into emerging markets: high costs, weak local connectivity and uncertain delivery. In June 2025 he released NALA 3.0, a ground-up rebuild of the consumer application that put accounts, exchange-rate comparison and repeat transfers at the centre of the product. He reported that transaction volume had increased 120-fold since January 2022; an independent company review later recorded that NALA's users had nearly doubled to 980,000 during 2025.
The more consequential shift was from a remittance application to payment infrastructure. Rafiki, NALA's business platform, launched in 2025 and generated a reported $2.5 million in its first year. In April 2026 NALA and MoneyGram announced that Rafiki would provide stablecoin settlement and local payout access across emerging markets in Africa and Asia. The work combines regulated distribution, local bank and mobile-money connections, treasury and foreign-exchange execution rather than treating a digital token as the finished product.
FigureAsia selection
Why Benjamin Fernandes is on the list
He personally articulated and led the consumer rebuild, while NALA's enterprise product progressed from launch revenue in 2025 to a named global payments customer in 2026. That sequence supplies completed work, commercial use and a clear chain of agency.
The assessment distinguishes reported throughput from verified impact. NALA is private, and cumulative volume, user growth and transfer-speed measures are not equivalent to audited public disclosures. Cross-border payment providers also carry substantial licensing, safeguarding, sanctions and liquidity obligations. Fernandes is recognised for building practical rails across difficult corridors; the durability, economics and control environment of those rails require continuing scrutiny.
Verified work
The 2025–26 business record
NALA 3.0 consumer platform released
Fernandes published and delivered a ground-up product rebuild centred on accounts, transparent rate comparison, faster repeat payments, searchable records and improved application performance.
MoneyGram adopted NALA settlement infrastructure
NALA and MoneyGram announced a stablecoin settlement and local-payout partnership using Rafiki to support faster cross-border flows into emerging markets across Africa and Asia.
Market context
The work in its market
Cross-border payments into Africa and Asia remain fragmented across correspondent banks, mobile-money networks, local switches and foreign-exchange providers. Reliability depends on direct connections and regulated local distribution as much as on the interface through which a customer initiates a transfer.
Stablecoins can shorten settlement and reduce pre-funded balances, but they do not remove compliance, conversion or last-mile obligations. The decisive infrastructure is the licensed network that converts and delivers funds safely in local markets.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
81.4out of 100
Operating execution
24.4 / 30
Fernandes published and delivered a ground-up product rebuild centred on accounts, transparent rate comparison, faster repeat payments, searchable records and improved application performance. The result is completed and operational rather than announced.
Commercial consequence
20.4 / 25
The record produced measurable consequence in cross-border payments and remittances, with company-wide outcomes kept distinct from personal credit.
Individual agency
16.3 / 20
As Founder and Chief Executive, Benjamin Fernandes held an identifiable decision-making and execution remit.
Industry influence
12.2 / 15
A Tanzanian founder building consumer remittance and enterprise settlement rails for emerging markets. The work established a reference point beyond one financing or publicity cycle.
Asian and global relevance
8.1 / 10
A fourth-generation Tanzanian of Goan Indian descent who describes himself as Indian East African; his payment networks connect diasporas and businesses across Africa and Asia. The work also carries consequence beyond one immediate market.