Equity Bank Head of Payments Eva Ngigi-Sarwari Dies

Former Visa Kenya country manager Eva Ngigi-Sarwari has died while on a business trip to China, in a loss that has shocked colleagues in the banking and financial technology sectors.

Ngigi-Sarwari, 45, most recently served as managing director of Finserve Africa, Equity Group’s digital financial services subsidiary, after joining the lender in January 2025 as group director for payments and international banking.

Her death was confirmed by colleagues on Tuesday, October 20, who described the loss as sudden and sent condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.

The cause of her death had not been disclosed by the time of publication.

At Equity Group, Ngigi-Sarwari was responsible for payments and international banking, overseeing solutions for corporate clients and institutions.

In April 2026, she took over as managing director of Finserve Africa, where she was tasked with overseeing the subsidiary’s strategy, commercial direction and operations.

Her appointment came as banks and financial technology firms continued to expand digital payments, transaction banking and cross-border financial services to meet the needs of businesses and consumers across Africa.

Before joining Equity Group, Ngigi-Sarwari spent more than four years at Visa, serving as senior director and country manager for Kenya, South Sudan and Somalia from September 2020 to December 2024.

During her tenure, she was responsible for developing and implementing growth strategies across the three markets as the payments industry sought to increase electronic transactions and expand the adoption of digital payment services.

Ngigi-Sarwari began her banking career at Co-operative Bank of Kenya in 2005, where she worked in customer relationships and electronic banking.

She later joined Stanbic Bank before moving to Standard Chartered Kenya in 2012. At Standard Chartered, she rose to become head of transaction banking for commercial banking.

In 2020, she moved to SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s venture-building arm, before taking up the leadership role at Visa.