Patience is an award-winning Chief Executive, currently the Group Chief Executive Officer 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. Prior to this, she was the first Ghanaian woman to be the Managing Director of Barclays in Ghana, now Absa Bank Ghana, where she led a diverse team of talented leaders to capture the enviable position of no. 1 in profitability. She has an impressive track record in the financial services industry with three decades of experience in finance, banking, and now insurance.

Under her visionary leadership, the Hollard brand has now gained prominence and visibility in Ghana having launched industry-first partnerships with the giant superstore Melcom and Vivo Ghana. Over the past three years, some innovative products introduced include Ghana’s first virtual insurer, a Chatbot nicknamed Araba Hollard, and Mebanbo, a microinsurance product.

Included in her personal awards and accolades are the Outstanding Woman CEO of the Decade Award at the 12th Ghana Entrepreneur and Corporate Executive Awards (2022), Africa Female Business Leader of the Year 2021 at the African Business Leadership Awards (2021), the coveted CIMG Marketing Woman of the Year 2019 award and the Market-place Christian Leadership Award (2022) at the Kingdom Equip Network 5th Anniversary Celebration.

Patience is a certified professional accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana. She holds an MBA (Finance) and a BSc. in Business Administration (Accounting Option, First Class Honors), both from the University of Ghana Business School. She is currently on the boards of Ecobank Ghana Limited and Hubtel Ghana. She is also a co-founder of the Executive Women Network and a founding member of the International Women’s Forum, Ghana. Patience is married to Lawyer Kwame Akyianu and has two children, Awurama Ampima Akyianu and Nana Banyin Kojo Akyianu.