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Tanzanian fintech NALA, founded by Benjamin Fernandes, has entered Kenya following a $40 million Series A round, using the funding to fuel international expansion and build proprietary payment rails across Africa and beyond.
The Nairobi launch is being carried out in partnership with Equity Bank and PesaLink, allowing the company to fast-track its entry into one of Africa’s busiest remittance markets without going through the lengthy process of applying directly for a Central Bank of Kenya license.
Tapping Kenya’s $4.9 billion remittance market
Kenya received a record KSh 640 billion ($4.95 billion) in remittances in 2024, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), making it the country’s second-largest source of foreign exchange after exports.
NALA plans to use PesaLink’s instant-payments network and Equity Bank’s settlement system to offer faster and cheaper transfers for the diaspora community. Kenn Lisudza, Chief Product Officer at PesaLink, said the partnership is opening up local rails to fintechs and merchants, enabling “quicker, more predictable international transactions.”
Rafiki and the infrastructure push
NALA’s move into Kenya comes on the heels of Rafiki, its new B2B payments platform that integrates directly with African banks and mobile wallets.
Backed by investors including Acrew Capital, DST Global Partners, Norrsken22, and HOF Capital, Rafiki is designed to cut out costly intermediaries, simplify cross-border flows, and help businesses better manage treasury operations in volatile currency markets.
COO Nicolai Eddy said the company’s focus is on reducing the $7.3 billion Africans lose each year to remittance fees. “That’s money that should be going directly into families’ pockets to pay for education, healthcare, and small businesses,” he said.
Kenya’s remittance space is currently dominated by Safaricom’s M-Pesa, alongside global giants like Western Union and MoneyGram, as well as domestic banks with deep diaspora connections. By partnering with licensed players rather than applying for its own license at the outset, NALA hopes to avoid early regulatory delays while scaling quickly.
Fernandes’ outlook for African payments
Founded in 2017 by Benjamin Fernandes, NALA has grown from a consumer money transfer app into a pan-African payments company. Fernandes, a Stanford graduate and Y Combinator alum, has described Kenya as a critical part of the company’s wider strategy to modernize Africa’s financial infrastructure.
With operations already in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ghana, the Kenyan launch reflects NALA’s growing bet on East Africa’s remittance corridors — and its ambition to make Rafiki a backbone for cross-border payments across the continent.
