Benjamin Fernandes (born 25 November 1992) is a Tanzanian entrepreneur
and former national television presenter. He worked at The Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation in the United States in their Digital Team
and Financial Services team. He is the first Tanzanian to attend
Stanford Graduate School of Business as an Africa MBA Fellow and the
youngest African to ever be accepted to Stanford Graduate School of
Business. In 2017, Fernandes became the first Tanzanian in history to
attend both Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard John F.
Kennedy School of Government for an executive education program.Raised
in Tanzania, Fernandes was born to Pastor Vernon and Anny Fernandes in
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Fernandes attended Haven of Peace Academy on
scholarship where he was known as being one of the lowest academically
performing students who failed to improved by the time he left.
Fernandes was given a conditional scholarship offer by the University
of Northwestern - St. Paul, in Roseville, Minnesota, U.S. where he was
president of numerous clubs and groups on campus. Then graduating top
of his class at the University of Northwestern. After Northwestern, he
returned to Tanzania, volunteered a community organizer in Dar es
Salaam before moving to the United States for his MBA. Fernandes began
his career as a television personality from the age of 17 when he
worked at Agape Television Network where his father Rev. Dr. Fernandes
was one of the directors. He began hosting sports shows and later
started interviewing politicians and entrepreneurs.In 2012, Fernandes
received national attention during the London 2012 Olympics as a
national television presenter in Tanzania. In 2014, he graduated from
the University of Northwestern â€" St. Paul with top honours in the
United States. In 2014, he was accepted to Stanford Graduate School of
Business, winning a $160,000 Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship to
attendâ€"an award received by 8 students from 8000 African applicants
to Stanford. With his sister he worked with their church started by
his father in Tanzania to co-found an orphanage called Diamond
Village. They cleared a field in Bunju, Dar es Salaam to build the
orphanage, teaching the children English and Mathematics.In August
2015, Fernandes moved to Palo Alto, California to begin his time at
Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is part of the Africa
Business club and has been working on a financial technology project
to launch in Tanzania. In January 2016, he was selected by TRUE Africa
as one of the "Top 16 Africans leading change in 2016.". Shortly
after, FastJet airlines featured his work in Tanzania in their online
airline magazine. He was listed as a "Voice of Hope for Tanzania." In
March 2016, he was selected to attend the MBA World Summit in Miami,
Florida, and, at the conference, he was awarded as the best speaker
for the event. He was presented with the MBA World Summit Award for
2016. In mid-September 2016, he was featured on several live
television shows on Clouds TV Tanzania, CNBC Africa, and TV1 Tanzania. Benjamin Fernandes Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter