Why DPF wants informal sector inclusion in banking system

The Deposits Protection Fund (DPF) of Uganda is seeking the integration of the informal sector in deposits insurance provided by the fund.

The fund says the starting point should be supporting the immediate inclusion of the informal sector in the frontier of licensed and regulated banks supervised by the central bank. 

This, it reasons, will empower them to tap into the insurance cover offered by the fund up to 10 Million shillings.

DPF chief executive officer Dr Julia Clare Olima Oyet said the northern Uganda frontier is dominated by informal village savings and loans association, Micro Deposits Taking Institutions and medium sized savings and credit co-operative societies (SACCOS) holding billions in rural financial fortunes often saved in pots, under mattresses, cashboxes or institutions outside the regulation of Bank of Uganda.

“Such funds sharply fall outside the mandates of DPF. Sector players must work towards the immediate inclusion of such groups by introducing them into the regulated banking frontier,” Oyet told stakeholders gathered at a meeting in Gulu City’s Bomah Hotel on May 14-15, 2025. 

The meeting was attended by religious leaders, cultural leaders, the Uganda Police Force and the local government officials from the Acholi region.

The Deposit Protection Fund (DPF) is a legal entity established by the Government of Uganda to ensure that depositors are paid their protected deposits in the unlikely event of failure or closure of a Contributing Institution. 

Deposit insurance or deposit protection is a measure implemented in many countries to protect bank depositors from losses caused by a bank's inability to pay its debts when due. It is designed to prevent depositor runs at banks and to protect those most in need of protection if a bank fails.