From witnessing Kenya’s mobile payments revolution to leading a UK fintech, Sophie Njagi shares why trust will become commerce’s greatest competitive advantage.
Growing up in Kenya during the rise of M-Pesa gave Sophie Njagi a front-row seat to one of the world’s most significant payment innovations. It showed her how removing friction from payments could transform the way people live, work and do business.
Today, as CEO of EQWIRE, she helps build the payments infrastructure that enables businesses to move money securely across borders, supporting the financial systems that power modern commerce.
In the latest edition of Commerce Voice’s Women in Commerce series, Sophie reflects on her unconventional route from studying law into fintech, building an international career, balancing leadership with motherhood and why she believes trust, not just technology, will define the next era of commerce.
Tell us about your role and career journey so far.
I lead product strategy and operations at Eqwire, where I help build the payments infrastructure that enables businesses to move money securely and seamlessly across borders. While customers often only see the checkout or payment confirmation, there’s a huge amount of technology, regulation and operational work happening behind the scenes to make modern commerce possible.
My route into the industry wasn’t conventional as I studied law, but I quickly realised that the future of commerce is more about building trusted financial systems that make buying, selling and trading easier for businesses and consumers alike. Growing up in Kenya during the rise of M-Pesa also shaped my perspective. It showed me that when payments become simpler and more accessible, they have the power to transform how people live, work and do business.
What achievement are you most proud of?
Building an international career while staying true to who I am. Moving from Kenya to Europe meant starting over more than once, building credibility in new environments and more recently, balancing leadership with motherhood. It’s taught me resilience and reminded me that success isn’t just about career progression, but about building something that has lasting impact.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned during your career?
That leadership isn’t about having all the answers, it’s about creating clarity. Early on, I thought being a good leader meant always being accommodating. I learned that people perform best when expectations are clear and everyone understands the bigger picture. Alignment will always outperform good intentions.
Have you faced any challenges as a woman in the industry?
There have been times when I’ve felt I had to prove myself more than others in the room, particularly in fintech, where leadership is still largely male. But those experiences have made me more confident in my own voice. They’ve also reinforced how important it is to create opportunities for other women to lead and not just participate. Progress is happening, but I think the real goal is making women’s leadership feel completely ordinary rather than exceptional.
What advice would you give to women looking to build a career in commerce or technology?
Have no shame about where you started, what you do not yet know or who you have to ask. I’ve always found that those whose progress is the fastest is usually the ones willing to look uninformed for five minutes rather than stay uninformed for five years.
What I have also found over the years is that to build credibility within the field is rarely glamorous, it’s about fixing broken processes, cleaning up onboarding and untangling customer problems. This is where consistency and competency comes through, whilst confidence can open doors, it’s the latter which keeps them open.
Who has inspired or influenced your career?
I have never really had a single idol. The person who has influenced me most is my mum. She ran for politics in Kenya and didn’t succeed the first time, although she was later nominated to serve. When another political opportunity didn’t work out, she completely changed direction and built a new career instead of seeing it as failure.
Watching her taught me that resilience matters more than having a perfect plan. Careers rarely go exactly as expected and sometimes you must reinvent yourself and keep going. That mindset has stayed with me throughout my own career.
What excites you most about the future of commerce?
What excites me most is that trust is becoming a competitive advantage again. For years, growth at all costs dominated the conversation. I am seeing more and more that customers are choosing businesses that are transparent, reliable and treat them fairly. In a world of AI-generated content, scams and misinformation, trust may become one of the most valuable commercial assets a company can have.
What’s one thing you’d like to see change in the industry?
I would like to see the industry become more accepting of non-linear careers. Some of the best people I have worked with came from law, operations, teaching, customer service or completely different sectors. Commerce moves too quickly to keep hiring people who all think and sound the same.
Quick Fire
Coffee or tea?
Coffee. Predictably, irreversibly coffee.
Most-used app?
Notes. My phone is full of half-written ideas, meeting thoughts, article angles and random reminders. It is either a sign of being organised or completely chaotic, depending on who you ask.
Favourite AI tool?
Claude, for making a messy first thought coherent or stress testing an argument. Not for making decisions.
A brand you admire?
M-Pesa. It changed daily commerce for millions of people in Kenya without waiting for traditional banking infrastructure to catch up. That is what real fintech impact looks like.
A woman in business everyone should follow?
Anne Boden.
One word to describe the future of commerce?
Trust.
