Dr. Ayo Adepoju last week emerged as part of the awardees for the maiden edition of the Africa Finance Leaders Awards.

The Awards, which were launched at this year’s Conference of African Chief Financial Officers held in Accra at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel from the 3rd to the 4th of November 2024.

The Conference of African Chief Financial Officers (CACFO) offers a fresh and unique platform for African CFOs to gather and reflect on the peculiar but shared challenges confronting their work as apex managers of the financial portfolios of companies on the continent and beyond.

In the wake of new challenges presented by the recent global pandemic, coupled with ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainties, the work of the CFO has been thrown into sharper focus like never before, thereby compelling a nuanced review of the subject’s affecting CFOs as a niche community of officers leading the financial management of the African corporation.

Structured to reflect the diversity and spectrum of trending themes affecting the work of the contemporary CFO, CACFO delved into topics as Sustainable Financing and ESG, AfCFTA & Trade Finance, implications and opportunities of AI in African Project Finance, Risks and Economy Issues in Post Pandemic Africa, Credit & Liquidity challenges in African Corporate Finance, Corporate governance and the work of the CFO amongst others.

However, the tipping point for many participants at this year’s event was the introduction of the Africa Finance Leaders Awards, which focused on celebrating Financial Excellence by honouring distinction and achievements in finance.

“Today we are building Africa's financial leader future one decision, one innovation and one leader at a time”. Executive Director. Conference of African Chief Finance Officers Ms Hannah Awuku noted, while adding that the awardees were “deserving of every accolade”.

Dr. Ayo Adepoju was honoured with the Award for Excellence in Corporate Financial Performance & Growth in 2025. Appointed Group CFO and subsequently Group Executive Director in June 2025, he leads a finance team of approximately 250 professionals across 35 countries. Under his leadership, Ecobank has strengthened its financial resilience through landmark transactions, including Eurobonds and sustainability-linked debt, significantly enhancing its presence in global capital markets. His strategic oversight has been instrumental in advancing Ecobank's Growth, Transformation & Returns strategy, optimising capital allocation, and driving enterprise-wide transformation initiatives, resulting in improved financial performance across Africa.

Dr. Adepoju's visionary leadership, deep institutional knowledge, and extensive experience have been central to sustaining Ecobank's competitive edge and growth trajectory.

Other awardees include: H.E. Naji Mohammed Issa, Governor of the Central Bank of Libya; Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama, Governor of the Bank of Ghana; Hon. Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Ghana; Semiu Lamidi of FirstBank Ghana, Tsholofelo Molefe- Chief Finance Officer for South African Telecommunication Giant Group MTN, and Ibukun Oyedeji for his pivotal role in guiding continued corporate financial success for Access Bank in 2025.

Deputy Chief of Staff at Ghana’s presidency, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, who addressed the gathering at the ceremony, commended the awardees and expressed the view that “they have demonstrated sound finance”, adding that it is not just about profit margins but is also about foresight, about integrity and about impact. 

Organisers of the Africa Finance Leaders Awards say the newly launched scheme has five key objectives, including the need to ensure transparency and fairness in the process of selecting honourees in a manner that will promote excellence, foster innovation, enhance competitiveness, recognise impact and encourage sustainability.