From Business Development to Market Leadership: Agatha Wanjugu’s Journey to Success
Agatha’s career path in iGaming is a story of curiosity turned passion, and passion transformed into leadership. Having cut her teeth at iGaming AFRIKA and grown her expertise at Pragmatic Play, she now spearheads East African operations at QTech Games, one of the world’s leading aggregators for emerging markets.
Along the way, she has not only navigated the complex challenges of fragmented regulations, diverse player behaviours, and evolving technologies, but also carved out a voice for innovation and inclusivity in an industry still finding its footing on the continent. In this conversation, she reflects on the experiences that shaped her, the role of innovation in Africa’s gaming future, and her vision for building trust, growth, and opportunity across East Africa’s iGaming landscape.
iGaming AFRIKA: You’ve built a strong career in iGaming across Africa with roles at iGaming AFRIKA, Pragmatic Play, and now QTech Games. What key experiences shaped the professional you are today?
Agatha Wanjugu: I’d have to say that my combined experiences – firstly with your good selves at iGaming AFRIKA, where I served as Business Development Manager, and then more recently at Pragmatic Play, where I spent several years as Account Manager for Africa – were truly foundational and instructive in both fuelling my passion for the iGaming space, alongside understanding its nuances and breakout potential across this exciting yet challenging landscape. After all, challenge and opportunity can often represent two sides of the same coin!
At iGaming AFRIKA, I started out in more business-development-focused roles, building and maintaining lasting client relationships, and collaborating with sales forces and technical departments to optimise the overall customer experience. Those formative interpersonal relationships were crucial to me learning the fundamentals and seeing the sector from both the operator and player perspective and priming me for more senior account-management at Pragmatic Play. I still have great relationships with those teams, both of whom encouraged me to adopt my trademark communicative and consultative approach.
Now, at QTech Games, I’m thrilled to be able to coalesce and apply these biz-dev and management skills, underpinned by hard-won experiences, at the industry’s leading aggregator for developing markets.
iGaming AFRIKA: iGaming is not always the most obvious career path. What first drew you into this space, and what keeps you passionate about it?
Agatha Wanjugu: To be honest, iGaming wasn’t something I ever saw as a career path, mainly because I didn’t even know it existed. Like many people, especially in Africa, I had no idea there was a whole industry behind betting. I was introduced to it by a good friend and former boss. At first, it was all new, confusing, a little overwhelming but also incredibly intriguing. The more I learned, the more curious I became. And the deeper I went, the more I realized just how much opportunity, innovation, and creativity this space holds. That’s what pulled me in and it’s what keeps me going.
iGaming AFRIKA: You were recently recognised as the ‘Innovation Queen of East Africa’ at SBEA 2025. What does this recognition mean to you personally, and how do you see innovation shaping the future of iGaming in East Africa?
Agatha Wanjugu: It was lovely to be recognised by my industry peers and colleagues in this regard – even if the title sounds too grand to my ear! Still, I do always love to think laterally, even outside the box, when it comes to defining new, flexible ways of operating, or promoting solutions that drive innovation and positive delineation for our clients from their competitors. Innovation, to me, is about relevance. It’s about understanding our markets, listening to users, and creating solutions that actually fit the local context.
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As a result, I actually think the award was equally reflective of the brilliant innovative work we’ve been doing at QTech Games over the past year, routinely providing product improvements to keep our partners ahead. We’re the only aggregator which is not just showcasing fantastic games but also adding engaging features (such as our AI-powered recommendation engine, alongside other Networked Jackpots and unique Rewards functionality) to illuminate QTech’s leadership position across emerging markets. It constitutes a wider tide of innovation that is helping to lift all boats.
iGaming AFRIKA: QTech has made clear its ambition to expand its footprint across Africa. How do you see your role in East Africa feeding into the company’s larger continental strategy?
Agatha Wanjugu: As I say, QTech Games is now so much more than just a leading aggregator, adding value and driving business at every consequential juncture for our client. And that flair to keep pushing the boundaries will be a force for growth, whether it’s in my specific East African domain or the wider purview of this rather fragmented continent as whole. While we’re talking innovation and ambitions to expand our broader footprint across Africa, we’re really excited by the response to our new retail solution, QTech Hybrid, which has been rolled out to instant acclaim with some of our pilot partners in Africa.
QTech Hybrid is a software service that merges QTech Games’ online lobby, a land-based (retail) management system, and a state-of-the-art integrated AMS (Agent Management System) to manage both retail outlets and agents. This allows the operator to scale their brick-and-mortar operation online which is really a game-changer in any African jurisdiction. It simplifies transactions by enabling deposits, withdrawals, and gameplay while allowing access to players both in-store and on personal devices. In short, it affords players the option to play at physical terminals or on their mobiles, and effortlessly migrate their journey and UX across any device. And for operators, there’s also now no need for expensive terminals since QTech Hybrid runs on cost-effective computers/tablets.
Needless to say, we think it’s going to prove a pathfinder in our broader strategic development across Africa.
iGaming AFRIKA: Having transitioned from account management into a regional sales leadership role, what has been the most challenging and ultimately rewarding part of making that leap from managing clients to shaping market strategy?
Agatha Wanjugu: Transitioning into regional sales leadership has pushed me to evolve from an operational mindset to a strategic one. In account management, I was directly responsible for client satisfaction and performance. But stepping into a leadership role has meant shifting to a much wider lens. I now have to think about cross-border expansion, regulatory nuances, team dynamics, and scalable revenue strategies across diverse African markets.
One of the key challenges is navigating the diversity of the African tech and gaming landscape. Each region has its own consumer behavior, legal frameworks, and competitive pressures. Developing strategies that scale, while remaining locally relevant, require deep market research, cross-cultural leadership, and adaptability. It is a steep but rewarding learning curve.
What makes it so rewarding is that now, I get to influence market direction, and ensure we’re building not just revenue, but relevance. And as someone navigating this space as an African woman, it’s deeply fulfilling to know I’m contributing to a more inclusive and innovative future in an industry that’s still finding its voice on the continent.
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