ACCRA, GHANA – February 10, 2021 – Award-winning banking, finance, and insurance executive Patience Akyianu has joined Hubtel as a Non-Executive Director.

Hubtel is one of Africa’s fast-evolving fintech-shopitality platforms and the largest messaging service provider with operations in Ghana and Kenya. The company has been expanding in innovative ways focused on helping retailers sell and deliver to nearby communities.

In August 2020, Hubtel was given regulatory approval by the Bank of Ghana to operate as a licensed Enhanced Payment Services Provider. This also followed the company’s international certification for PCI-DSS and ISO 27001 bank card information security and general management standards.

The inclusion of Patience Akyianu to the leadership of the company brings her an impressive wealth of expertise as a solid executive with over 26 years of experience in Finance, Banking, and Insurance.

Patience is currently the Group CEO of Hollard Ghana Holdings, a subsidiary of Hollard International – South Africa, and a Director on both boards of the company’s subsidiaries, Hollard Insurance Ghana, and Hollard Life Assurance Ghana.

She was also the first Ghanaian woman to become the Managing Director of Barclays Bank in Ghana (now ABSA Bank).

In a chat from his base in London, the Chairman of Hubtel, Hans Nilsson, said that “….we are very very excited to have a Director of that kind of caliber on our board. A company with the type of ambition that Hubtel is pursuing needs the experience and advice of people who have done it at the highest levels. And that’s exactly what we know we will get with someone like Patience.”

Under her visionary leadership, the Hollard brand has now gained prominence and visibility in Ghana and has introduced some innovative products, including Ghana’s first virtual insurer, a Chatbot nicknamed Araba Hollard.

Her tremendous leadership skills and execution capabilities have been recognized with prestigious awards and accolades including Marketing Woman of the Year 2019, Outstanding Group CEO of the Year 2019, Woman of Excellence 2019, and Best Woman CEO of the Year 2018.

Patience is a certified professional accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana. She is also on the board of Ecobank Ghana Limited, and a founding member of both the Executive Women Network and the International Women’s Forum, Ghana.

She is married to Lawyer Kwame Akyianu and has two children, Awurama Ampima Akyianu and Nana Banyin Kojo Akyianu.