Just as 2025 began, Benjamin Fernandes entered the year with some of the biggest opportunities — and the toughest realities — of his career. After years of building NALA into one of Africa’s most talked‑about fintechs, the challenge this year was proving that a payments infrastructure company could really deliver where it matters most for everyday people.
In September 2025, NALA launched in Kenya after closing its $40 million Series A funding round, a milestone that gave the company the runway to expand in one of Africa’s largest remittance markets. The Nairobi launch wasn’t a crawl; it was a strategic move that fast‑tracked the company into the heart of East Africa’s financial flows, partnering with established local systems like Equity Bank and PesaLink to make sending and receiving money faster and more affordable.
Not long after, NALA secured regulatory approval to operate remittance services in Ghana, opening a key West African corridor and validating Fernandes’s belief that working with regulators and trusted partners is critical to building lasting financial infrastructure.
But 2025 wasn’t just about wins. In October, a nationwide internet blackout in Tanzania — where many NALA users rely on the app to receive funds — knocked the service offline for nearly 18 hours, leaving families cut off from crucial support from loved ones abroad. Watching those 18 hours unfold showed Fernandes that technology in this age is a lifeline for food, medical care, and security for millions.
Through those highs and lows, his leadership this year has been shaped by building infrastructure that actually works for the people who depend on it every month. Whether securing permissions in new markets or responding personally to service‑disrupting crises, he’s been committed to making NALA a more resilient and trustworthy platform.
