Benjamin Fernandes, founder of NALA, argues that human movement is the clearest signal of ambition. He challenges us to recognize talent as the emerging world’s greatest export—and to create opportunity where ambition begins, not just where it arrives. Benjamin Fernandes Founder and CEO NALA Benjamin Fernandes is an award-winning Tanzanian speaker and entrepreneur. He grew up in Tanzania, earning scholarships that took him to America at the age of 17. Benjamin was the youngest African in history to be accepted into Stanford Graduate School of Business. He holds an MBA from Stanford and an Exec Ed from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the first Tanzanian to attend both institutions. Fernandes founded NALA, a fintech startup that is on a mission to build payments for the next billion. NALA operates across 21 countries in Europe, the US and the UK with nearly 150 employees. In 2020, Fernandes was listed as the 15th most influential Tanzanian. In 2022, Fernandes was listed in the inaugural ROW100 most influential technology leaders in the world. In 2023, Fernandes was listed on the Top 100 Changemakers list for Africa. In 2024, Forbes online featured Fernandes on their daily cover with a cover story This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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