According to a colleague statement, Eva Ngigi Sarwari, who served as Finserve Africa’s managing director and Equity Group’s payments director, has passed away at 45 during a business trip to China.
The abrupt end of her professional life occurred just after she started working at Equity in January 2025, a position that tasked her with executing the bank’s payment strategies throughout the continent. In April 2026, she assumed the role of managing director at Finserve Africa, managing the subsidiary’s strategy, commercial outlook, and daily operations.
Before rejoining a banking group, Sarwari spent four years at Visa as senior director and country manager. Her tenure at Visa, spanning from September 2020 to December 2024, covered Kenya, South Sudan, and Somalia, where she was responsible for executing growth strategies.
She moved to Visa from SC Ventures, the venture-building arm of Standard Chartered, where she acted as a venture lead in 2020. This followed a period of over seven years within Standard Chartered’s transaction banking division. Between July 2017 and January 2020, serving as head of commercial banking transaction banking, she shaped the bank’s strategy for Kenya and East Africa. This included managing revenue growth, product relevance, and digital transformation initiatives.
Her prior experience included working as a principal in transaction banking, where she advised development organizations and public sector clients across East Africa. Sarwari joined Standard Chartered in November 2012 after spending more than two years at Stanbic Bank Kenya, where she oversaw sales for transactional products.
She launched her banking journey at Co-operative Bank of Kenya in June 2005 as a relationship manager, focusing on helping clients adopt electronic banking through product demos, installations, and training.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Eva Ngigi Sarwari,” her colleagues said in the statement on Tuesday. They called the news a “sudden and profound shock” and promised further updates as information becomes available. The note did not specify the cause or time of her passing.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Eva’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time,” the statement added.
Sarwari’s professional path was unique, integrating experience from a local bank, an international institution, and a global card network. Her initial work at Co-operative Bank provided the foundation for her later focus on digital banking. Her transition at Standard Chartered from transaction banking to venture-building mirrored the broader industry trend toward innovation.
