East Africa

Evode Rusagara

Head, East Africa

FinTech Executive with 22+ years of leadership across banking, consumer lending, technology, and regulated digital financial services in East Africa, the UK, and EMEA. A proven CEO/Managing Director with full P&L ownership, consistently driving sustained revenue growth, EBITDA expansion, and product-level profitability in complex, high-growth markets. Builder of trusted, scalable wallet and merchant ecosystems that advance financial inclusion for unbanked and underbanked communities. Demonstrated success in expanding active wallets, deepening customer engagement, increasing ARPU, and monetising digital lending, remittances, savings, and embedded finance solutions. Skilled in structuring cross-border payment infrastructure and designing open API-driven products to unlock platform scale. Extensive banking and consumer lending expertise, including oversight of multi-million-pound investment portfolios, governance of new product approvals, and structuring capital optimisation instruments. Proven ability to architect and commercialise digital lending platforms for insurance firms, SACCOs, MDIs, and MFIs, accelerating credit access and deposit growth. Experienced in capital raising, investor engagement, and balance sheet optimisation, with a track record of structuring complex transactions such as cross-currency interest rate swaps and multi-market Series A strategies. Respected regulatory partner with direct central bank engagement and recognized FinTech policy leadership. Known for disciplined financial execution and for cultivating cultures anchored in accountability, agility, and customer focus. Brings strategic clarity and commercial authority to scale national digital financial platforms aligned with financial inclusion and sustainable growth ambitions.