The CEO of aYo Intermediaries Ghana (aYo Ghana), Francis Gota has been adjudged Top Transformational Business Leader of the Year 2023 at the 3rd National Governance and Business Leadership Awards (NGBLA).

The award comes exactly one week after aYo Ghana, a subsidiary of MTN Ghana and the leading mobile microinsurance company in the country, walked away with three top awards at the Ghana Insurance Awards 2023.

The three awards were Mobile Insurance Company of the Year, Emerging Brand of the Year and Promising Intermediaries Company of the Year.

The laurels aYo picked at the Ghana Insurance Awards explains why the CEO, Francis Gota emerged as the Transformation Business Leader of the Year at the NGBLA a week later.

A citation that came with the award read that it was in recognition of "your remarkable merit and achievements in business transformation for national development."

Francis has for the past five years led aYo to deepen insurance penetration in Ghana by coverage.

The company is single-handedly responsible for over 8.2 million Ghanaians having and using microinsurance products, which constitute over 25% of the country's population.

Whereas the 8.2 million are persons who directly own policies with aYo, the benefits of those policies extend to an additional two million plus dependents of the original policyholders.

Over the five-year period, aYo has paid out at least ¢14 million to more than 40,000 beneficiaries across the country.

The company is driven by a passion to achieve most of the United National Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly ensuring poverty alleviation through financial inclusion, using affordable, easily accessible, relevant and usable microinsurance as a vehicle.

aYo has churned out at least four products, all of which are easy to use, very affordable and are providing value for low-income Ghanaians.

The four products are Send with Care (on MTN mobile money), Recharge with Care (using MTN airtime as premium), Recharge with Care Annual Cover and the most recent one called Family Cover.

The NGBLA Awards celebrated leaders across various sectors of the Ghanaian economy, encompassing Energy, Finance, Manufacturing, Trade, Transport, Education, Agri-business, logistics, and telecommunications, among others.

The event also highlighted the significant contributions of social entrepreneurs and individuals dedicated to making a positive impact on others through their charitable causes.

The National Governance & Business Leadership Awards is a distinguished, C-level high-impact, economic development and strategic leadership awards program, created by the Governance & Business Boardroom, which aims to champion and celebrate good corporate governance, outstanding leadership, economic empowerment, and job creation in Ghana.

The event recognizes and honours top CEOs, Board chairs, procurement leaders, HR leaders, business executives, companies, and organisations that exemplify excellence in their respective fields.

The criteria for selecting the Transformation Business Leader at the National Governance and Business Leadership Awards were rigorous, encompassing Visionary Leadership, Strategic Planning, Innovation and Creativity, Financial Performance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Industry Impact, and Personal Integrity.