When Philip Ahabwe joined ICEA Lion Life Assurance Uganda as CFO, he had never led a department, and the finance function was still taking shape. But through a clear focus on mentoring others, he has built a team defined by growth and resilience.
Philip Ahabwe, CFO of ICEA Lion Life Assurance Uganda, has never chased visibility. He cannot remember what became of the placard with compliments from his team members. Success, for him, is about what is built quietly and left behind in others.
“I believe I’ve had a chance to improve the people that I’ve worked with. I’m very honest with them because for me, they are critical in whether I fail or I succeed. So I’m glad that some of them have gone on to be senior people in their careers. Others have grown within the ranks in the institution and now I almost have a new set,” he says.
His pride runs deeper than performance ratings or audit results. He sees his team members not only in terms of what they can do, but also who they are becoming outside of work. When he talks about the people who have worked with him, he goes beyond what they have delivered.
“Their own personal development excites me. I had two people in my team who completed their master’s before I ever thought of writing mine,” he says.
As a teenager, Philip had dreamt of studying economics at Makerere University and eventually becoming a professor. He secured enrolment, but after his mother encouraged him to apply to Kyambogo as a backup, he was faced with a decision that would define everything that followed.
A fork in the road
“It was cheaper to go to Kyambogo than it was to go to Makerere for the economics courses. So going to Kyambogo meant I would do accounting. In my mind, if I went and wrote this accounting course in Kyambogo, it would be less stressful on her, and I would still be able to handle the course,” he says.
He joined PwC after graduation, turning down offers from two other Big Four firms. For the five years he worked at the firm, the pace was fast and the learning constant. The exposure at PwC was broad and demanding, and he learnt to ask the right questions and lead teams even before he had a title. The experience gave him confidence that he could hold his own in any room. But when he met the woman he would marry, he began to question whether the life he was building would make space for his personal goals.
“Maybe I judged it wrongly, but at the time, I didn’t see so many examples of people who had what I would have called a successful family life. It appeared as though most of the guys, when they made it through to manager, if they wanted to get married or if they got married soon after, they left. So I wondered, would I be able to manage family life and work?” he explains.
The question stayed with him until he left PwC and eventually took on a finance role in the insurance sector. In 2018, he was appointed CFO of ICEA Lion Life Assurance Company Uganda. He had never led a department before, and some thought he was too young.
“I was reporting directly to the CEO. I think they recognised there is potential here because the guys who I think I beat off from a competition perspective to get that job had a lot more experience in the industry than I did. And I was just entering the industry from audit,” he reveals.
Taking on new challenges
The opportunity came at a time when he was still finding his rhythm in the industry. He had not planned for it and was surprised by how quickly it came. But something about the role felt aligned with what he had been preparing for all along. It was a chance to lead both processes and people.
“When I look back in hindsight, there were growth areas. And I believe ICEA Lion allowed me to grow in those areas. Because of course now, I’m responsible for the function. But I found people there, all of whom were my seniors, age wise,” he says.
The first months were not easy, as the company was still adjusting to a regulatory split between its life and general insurance businesses. The finance function had glaring gaps and the systems were not fully utilised, yet the business was growing fast.
“My first reporting cycle was very bad. It was my first audit period, end of 2018 into 2019. So much so that I asked myself, ‘What am I doing here’?” he says.
But he did not leave. As part of his recovery plan, he restructured the team and brought in younger professionals who were open to learning. Over time, he changed how the department worked and how it was seen. His leadership style, though misunderstood, remained unassuming. The shift in the finance department did not happen overnight. What began as a team struggling to meet expectations slowly became one defined by confidence and cohesion.
“The feedback was good, but I thought my colleagues were too generous with the way they evaluated the performance. And then it looked like I was being a little bit hard on them,” he says.
An honest look
Philip’s wife calls him the “people person” in their family. Though others see him as reserved, those closest to him know his strength lies in showing up for people consistently. At work, he does not believe in chasing roles. He has turned down jobs he did not feel ready for. Even now, he says he did not set out to become CFO and is not aiming for the CEO role – unlike many of his peers. For him, the timing and context matter more than ambition. He urges others to take the same approach and grow without rushing.
“You have to be honest with yourself and recognise where you are in this spectrum, right? It’s all nice and good having aspiration, but what are your gaps? What do you have to learn? Assess yourself on merit,” he says.
What grounds Philip most is his family. He speaks about his daughters with the same clarity he brings to his work. He does not want to be remembered for running the largest balance sheet or climbing the career ladder fastest. He is most keen on being present for his loved ones, as that, to him, is leadership too.
“I just want to be a good dad and a great husband. Maybe it sounds cliché, or sounds nice and cool, but that would be more important to me than being the most prominent CFO. All these things will change. What won’t change is that I will remain the father of those two girls, at least for now,” he says.
