Eva Ngigi Sarwari, Equity Group’s director of payments and international banking, has died at the age of 45 while on a business trip to China.

Colleagues confirmed her death on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. The cause of death had not been disclosed by the time of publication.

Sarwari joined Equity Group in January 2025 as group director for payments and international banking.

In April 2026, she was appointed managing director of Finserve Africa, the group’s digital financial services subsidiary, placing her at the centre of its digital banking and financial technology operations.

Career in banking and financial technology

Before joining Equity Group, Sarwari served as Visa’s senior director and country manager for Kenya, South Sudan and Somalia, a position she held from September 2020 to December 2024.

At Visa, she oversaw the company’s operations across the three markets, drawing on her experience in banking, transaction services and financial technology.

Sarwari began her professional career in 2005 at Co-operative Bank, where she worked in customer relationships and electronic banking. She later moved to Stanbic Bank before joining Standard Chartered Kenya in 2012.

At Standard Chartered, she rose to become head of transaction banking for the commercial banking division, overseeing an area of financial services that supports business payments and other banking transactions.

In 2020, she moved to SC Ventures before joining Visa later that year, continuing her progression through senior roles in banking and financial technology.

Her appointment to Equity Group in January 2025 placed her in charge of payments and international banking, two areas that have become increasingly significant as financial institutions expand digital transactions and cross-border financial services.

In April 2026, she took on the additional leadership role of managing director at Finserve Africa, extending her responsibilities within Equity Group’s digital financial services business.

Academic background

Alongside her professional career, Sarwari pursued further education and executive training in strategic management, digital business and financial technology.

She attended the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, where she completed the Oxford Strategic Management Executive Programme between August 2022 and April 2023.

She had earlier completed the Oxford Fintech Program in 2019, strengthening her knowledge of financial technology and its role in the changing banking industry.

Between 2019 and 2020, she also completed a postgraduate diploma in digital business through Emeritus.

Sarwari earned a Master of Business Administration in Strategic Management from the University of Nairobi, where she studied between 2008 and 2010.

She also held a Bachelor of Business Management in Marketing Management from Moi University, where she completed her undergraduate studies between 2000 and 2004.