We are entering a phase where execution matters as much as ambition. As Verto’s platform, customers, and geographic footprint continues to expand, so does the role of sales. It’s at this inflection point that Mark Mwaniki joins us as the Sales Director in Kenya, bringing a clear-focus on disciplined growth and customer-led outcomes.
Over the past few weeks, Mark has been working closely with teams across the business to understand where momentum already exists and where friction needs to be removed. The immediate focus is not about reinventing everything, but about addressing the critical challenges that directly impact how efficient we serve customers and how consistently we grow. This includes sharpening how we qualify opportunities, tightening feedback loops, and ensuring the sales team is spending time where it creates the most value.
Sales today looks very different from even 5 years ago and as Mark puts it: “Buyers are becoming far more intentional. It’s no longer just “can you move money?”. The real questions are around speed, transparency, predictability and whether a provider can support operations across borders without creating more complexity behind the scenes.”
This mindset is particularly important given how the B2B payments market in Kenya is evolving. Over the next year, businesses will continue to scrutinise cost, reliability, and risk more closely, especially in cross-border context. Looking ahead, the businesses in Kenya are navigating currency volatility, regulatory complexity and increasing pressure to operate efficiently across borders. Over the next 12 months, “Mid-market and structured SMBs are the initial focus” says Mark, “alongside strategic partnerships as these businesses feel cross-border friction most sharply. They’re big enough to need sophistication and it's also where Verto’s strengths around FX, collections, payouts, and APIs resonate fastest.”
A critical enabler of this strategy is a tighter integration between sales, marketing and product. Insights from Kenyan customers on what resonates, what slows decisions, what builds trust, will play a central role in shaping messaging and product priorities. Embarking on the strategies for 2026, Mark believes “when those loops are tight, sales stops being reactive.”
To keep the team focused, success is being measured through “retained, repeat revenue”. As a business, we will be closely looking at how "customers are transacting consistently three to six months after onboarding. It’s a simple but honest signal that tells whether sales set the right expectations, whether product delivered, and whether the customer truly sees value."
In Kenya, Agriculture and manufacturing are the key industries that record the highest volumes in cross-border transactions. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, it will be a customised journey for each industry and customer. Speaking about the industries, Mark comments, "I see Verto playing a long-term role as the financial backbone supporting regional and global growth.”
This is true for various industries where payments directly impact growth, cash flow, and operational resilience. Sectors such as FMCG distribution, agri-exports, logistics, marketplaces, and digital-first service businesses operate across borders by default and deal with complex payout and collection flows. They also scale quickly once the right infrastructure is in place. By tailoring conversations to these industry realities, the sales team can speak the language of the customer, anchor value in real workflows, and demonstrate ROI in terms that resonate with how each industry actually operates.
According to Mark, "the best deals I've worked on weren't forced, they were obvious." His strategy for the Kenyan sales team is to concentrate on establishing a system that drives predictable results.
‘When decisions improve, growth tends to follow," says Mark.
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