Empire FXhas named Linda Nkatha Muriuki as its new Head of Sales, the company said today(Monday), the second senior hire the Capital Markets Authority-licensed brokerhas pulled from Pepperstone in less than a week.Muriukijoins from Pepperstone, where she handled major client accounts and supportedthe broker's regional commercial efforts, according to Empire FX. She reportsto Sahil Patel, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Empire FX hired from Pepperstone's Africabusiness last Thursday.A Second Pull FromPepperstone's Africa BenchPatel spentmore than six years building Pepperstone's African operation, leading thefirm's Kenya entity from 2020 and ending his tenure as head of Africa. His moveto Empire FX was framed by the company last weekas the opening step of a broader push to scale globally from its Nairobi base.Muriuki'sarrival makes the pattern harder to dismiss as coincidence. Both hires comefrom the same competitor, both have direct exposure to the African market, andboth now anchor Empire FX's commercial leadership.Patel saidMuriuki "brings a deep understanding of client behaviour, particularly inthe African markets," where trust and local relevance shapedecision-making, according to a company statement. He pointed to her ability to"combine relationship-driven sales with a strategic, data-ledapproach" as central to the hire.Pepperstonebroker holds licenses in the UK, Germany, Cyprus, Kenya, the Bahamas and theUAE, and also recently lost its UK chief executive Iain Rogers to crypto exchange OKX, where he now runs EMEA compliance.What Muriuki Will Run atEmpire FXMuriukiwill lead Empire FX's global sales function, with a stated focus on Africa andother priority regions, the company said. Her remit covers client acquisition,conversion and retention as the broker tries to scale beyond its Kenyan base.Pepperstone has been one of Kenya'slonger-running licensed brokers, operating locally since 2020. Muriuki said ina statement that her focus would be on "building deeper clientrelationships, improving conversion strategies" and delivering aconsistent experience across customer touchpoints. Competition for KenyanTraders Picks Up PaceEmpire FXoperates in one of the more contested licensed forex markets in Africa. Kenya'sCapital Markets Authority introduced its framework in 2017, and the country nowhosts more than 100,000 active retail traders, drawing international brokers tocompete for both clients and licensed talent.Thelicensed pool has grown quickly. Capital.com entered with localapprovals in January 2026, followed by XM, while FP Markets picked up its license in2025 and IC Markets in 2024. They sitalongside Pepperstone, Exness, Equiti's FXPesa unit, Scope Markets and INGOT Africa.The resultis a market where commercial leaders with local relationships and customer datahave become more valuable to brokers than the platform sitting underneath them.Empire FXappears to be betting that two Pepperstone veterans can deliver both.Africa Becomes the HiringBattlegroundThe EmpireFX hires fit a broader pattern across retail brokers, where European andAustralian volumes have flattened and firms are competing for executives whoknow how to acquire customers in emerging markets. Exness openeda Cape Town office last year as part of an Africa push. Equiti's FXPesacontinues to operate as one of the few homegrown Kenyan brands with scale,while South African regulation has drawn brokers including DooGroup toward local branding strategies.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.