Get Rahat Ahmed on We’re Not Kidding with Mehdi & Friends

Rahat Ahmed has spent two decades moving capital across frontier markets. Then he built the infrastructure for global venture investment in Bangladesh from scratch.

As Founding Partner of Anchorless Bangladesh — launched from New York in 2019 — he helped seed Pathao, Bangladesh's breakout ride-share startup, and cultivated relationships with 90+ global institutional funds. He's also publicly blunt: in January 2025, he challenged the culture of flashy MOUs and photo ops that create zero jobs as a betrayal of Bangladesh's young workforce.

The moment makes this conversation urgent:

• April 2025: Bangladesh's first major post-Hasina investment summit drew 60+ foreign firms to Dhaka — but FDI hit just $1.86 billion last fiscal year, far below target.
• 2026: LDC graduation strips duty-free trade access, forcing a structural reckoning for the garment sector.
• US tariffs are compounding an economy already projected to grow at just 3.3%.

Mehdi Hasan — South Asian Muslim, independent at Zeteo after leaving MSNBC — built We're Not Kidding to surface conversations cable wouldn't allow. Guests like Riz Ahmed and Aasif Mandvi fit a clear profile: diaspora figures with real skin in underreported systems. Rahat fits exactly — with the rare addition of frontier capital fluency.

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