Margaret: Effectively inspiring females in their roles as leaders

Dar es Salaam. When Margaret Ikongo’s leadership journey unfolded at the National Insurance Corporation parastatal (NIC), her leadership skills were held in doubt. Today, she is one of the most inspiring women leaders in Tanzania and abroad. She is currently serving as an independent, non-executive director of several institutions countrywide, including the NMB Bank, Vodacom, AAR Insurance and the Kenya’-based Continental Reinsurance.

Ms Ikongo had a one-on-one interview with the World bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) for its 2021 annual report titled ‘Leading Tanzanian Women in Financial Services.’ In that session, she revealed what it took to get her to where she is today.

Her fame was not an overnight success, as her career was built on decades of painstaking experience, specialising in the insurance sector. She was able to rise through the ranks early in her career, largely due to the way she dealt with challenging assignments that were assigned to her.

In 1999, Margaret was appointed by the Head of State of the third-phase Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, the late President Benjamin Mkapa (1995-2005) as the NIC Managing Director.

“Before that appointment, I had never had a directorial role or attended a management meeting, let alone board meetings. It was a whole new chapter for me,” she recounts.

Indeed, fellow workers at NIC were surprised by her appointment, believing it to be the result of a mix-up, as there were other NIC workers who were also named ‘Margaret’.

“I overheard one of the staff saying that my appointment was a mistake, and that it would be reversed just as soon, because I could not be the right person for such a high position,” Margaret recalls - doing so somewhat wryly.

By 2006, Tanzania’s Insurance sector had been liberalized for about eight years, and the state-owned NIC was rapidly losing business to private sector competitors. As a result, the government also privatised the corporation - a decision which, rightly or wrongly, Margaret did not agree with.

However, despite losing much of the insurance business to the private sector at the time, NIC nonetheless played an important role in the industry by offering affordable insurance to a significant portion of Tanzania’s population. And, although she could lose her job by speaking up against the privatisation, Margaret still believed that she must stand up for her principles as well as for the clients that NIC was serving.

“When a person of influence heard about my point of view, he offered to secure for me an audience with the prime minister of the day. Indeed I was granted only a five minute in which to explain my concerns. In preparing to meet with the prime minister, Ms Ikongo cast to the four winds any fears that she could lose her job for breaking protocol and going over the heads of those above her.

“I gathered all my strengths to face the prime minister and spill out my concerns” she recalls.

After that meeting with Ms Ikongo, the Prime minister directed the Parastatal Sector Reforms Commission not to pricatise NIC until further consultations to determine whether or not privatising NIC was the right thing to do. Eventually the decision was made to keep NIC as a state-owned enterprise.

Margaret also retained her job as the NIC Managing Director until 2009, when she moved over to the newly-formed Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA).

“My confidence, courage - and 43 years of experience in the insurance sector were what made me the kind of leader I am today,” she pontificates.

In 1987, she spent five months in The Netherlands on a successful training programme for a Diploma in Management Information Systems. t

“When I returned to Tanzania, I wrote a report recommending two new ideas that could be adopted by the NIC, - and, if I say so myself - the corporation CEO at that time was very impressed. Not only did he adopt my recommendations - and set up a team to implement them; he also wrote me a letter saying that I had a bright future in the business. I was encouraged,” she enthuses.

In 1990, Ms Ikongo enrolled for a Certification Programme with the United Kingdom’s Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) - becoming the third Tanzanian (and first woman) to obtain CII Certification in 1995.

All in all, Ms Ikongo attributes her phenomenal success not only to her formal or paper qualifications, but also to learning from her managers, mentors and colleagues, as well as effectively tackling challenging assignments.

“Whenever a colleague could not handle a particular assignment, our superiors passed it on to me. At first, I resented this... But I just as soon realised that what our superiors were doing was helping me to understand and grow my experience the insurance industry,” she says.

When Margaret Ikongo took over as the NIC Managing Director in 1999, there were a few women in such high decision-making roles in the country. This made her perceive her position as an opportunity to increase women participation in decision-making situations.

So, she encouraged - and continues to encourage - young women to take on additional responsibilities that highlight their skills and competencies.

She also persuaded female colleagues to continue lifelong learning by pursuing additional programmes. “Women have to aspire for decision-making roles and board positions. They should stop pre-judging themselves and doubting their abilities, as this only blurs their career visions,” she says.

Based on her experience on boards of directors, Margaret believes that boards perform better if women are among the members because she believes that women can view issues with a holistic perspective.

“Women often form deep and lasting relationships and by giving them deserving seats on decision making tables, the boards can leverage women’s unique strengths and leadership capabilities,” she reveals.