In a financial world increasingly shaped by agile Fintechs and digital-first lenders, dfcu is something of an old soul.
At 60 years old, it carries the legacy—and the burden—of being one of Uganda’s most established financial institutions.
But legacy alone doesn’t guarantee relevance.
For years, dfcu wrestled with stagnating earnings, a flatlining share price, reputational bruises from Crane Bank acquisition, and skeptical investors.
Yet 2024 marked a stunning reversal.
Group profits surged by 151% to UGX72 billion.
Non-performing loans halved and the share price, long stuck in neutral, appreciated by 12%—a quiet but significant signal to markets.
“This underscores our commitment to continuously grow our shareholder value and return on their investment,” dfcu Group chairman Jimmy Mugerwa said at the Thursday annual general meeting.
“We have delivered a strong operational and financial performance, which has laid a foundation for us to remain competitive in the market,” he added.
To casual observers, the results may seem like a windfall.
But a closer look reveals a mix of strategic clarity, risk containment, and old-fashioned prudence.
Charles Mudiwa, the dfcu Bank managing director, said, “It’s been a three-year journey”.
“In 2023, we refocused our strategy. In 2024, we reorganized the team and the structure. And now in 2025, we are engineering and automating our operations,” he said.
That transformation involved everything from robotic process automation to streamlined loan approvals and upgraded ATMs—investments not in hype, but in infrastructure.
What’s even more telling is the rebound in asset quality.
The non-performing asset ratio, which stood at 16% in 2021, dropped to just 4.4% in 2024.
This reflects improved loan screening, tighter credit monitoring, and aggressive recoveries.
Rebecca Birungi, the acting chief financial officer, noted that the credit loss ratio turned from a painful 9.8% in 2021 to a gain of 1.1% in 2024.
This highlights not only lower defaults but also actual money recovered from previously written-off loans.
Such results stem from course correction and a recognition that the old ways weren’t working.
“We were once forced to write off UGX83 billion. But we never stopped chasing that money,” said Margaret Karume, the chief credit officer.
“Eventually, we recover. It’s a journey, but it’s working.”
And in a year marked by geopolitical instability, rising compliance thresholds, and slow private sector credit growth, dfcu’s performance quietly exceeded expectations.
dfcu Group and the bank’s leadership team at both the board and management levels. In the last three years, dfcu Bank has structured new leadership, which it says has set the stage for improved performance.
A clean break and a clean bill
Let’s start with the numbers: UGX72 billion in profits, a staggering leap from UGX28.5 billion in 2023, was a 151% surge that few could have predicted.
Dfcu has taken its bruises and turned them into fuel for a structured comeback.
At the heart of that turnaround is a renewed commitment to governance and transparency.
KPMG, the bank’s external auditor, gave a clean opinion, noting that dfcu’s books, long scrutinized for its provisioning and post-acquisition adjustments, finally passed professional muster.
“We did a very detailed audit and got explanations for all those numbers,” said Stephen Ineget, the audit partner at KPMG.
KPMG even flagged one of the most complex areas of judgment—provisioning for non-performing loans—as a key audit matter, underscoring the level of scrutiny applied.
Even the write-offs, which for years symbolized dfcu’s struggle with poor-quality legacy loans, are no longer just losses.
They have morphed into recoveries.
UGX12 billion worth of previously written-off loans were collected in 2024, flipping the narrative from failure to follow through.
How Stanbic Bank CFO Ronald Makata Blends Governance, Technology and Human Leadership to Drive Performance“When we write off, the recovery process doesn’t stop,” said Karume. “We pursue aggressively—and the results are now visible.”
Taken together, these developments suggest not just a one-time bounce but the early signs of structural resilience.
From write-offs to right paths
Ms Karume said writing off loans was not surrender—it was a strategy.
Thus, during 2024, non-performing asset ratio dropped from 16% in 2021 to 4.4% in 2024, now comfortably within the bank’s risk appetite.
This turnaround is not accidental. Mudiwa, who took the helm during stormy years, noted that in 2023, dfcu launched a strategic “refocus” on eight key economic sectors.
These included agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, infrastructure, health, education, energy, and financial services.
In 2024, they reorganized leadership and invested in automation, and in 2025, the ambition is digital transformation at scale.
Robotic process automation is already reducing loan turnaround times from three days to one.
A modernized ATM fleet—now 77 strong—offers intelligent cash deposits.
The card management system has been upgraded.
And a core banking overhaul is in the works, promising a leap into 21st-century digital finance.
Shareholder value, finally delivered
For long-suffering shareholders, who have watched dfcu’s stock stagnate for years, 2024 was different.
The share price rose 12% to UGX253, lifting the market capitalisation to UGX189 billion.
Earnings per share shot up to UGX96.4, and dividends followed suit—now at UGX20.09 per share.
For a stock once dubbed “deadweight,” this is a remarkable resurrection.
Birungi painted a picture of sustained improvement.
Return on equity, she said, surged from 2% in 2021 to 10%, and credit losses flipped from a punishing 9.8% to a gain of 1.1%, a rare reversal.
The soul of the bank
But numbers are just half the story.
General manager Sophie Achak, said dfcu’s mission extends beyond profits.
Through its newly reborn dfcu Foundation (formerly Agricultural Development Centre), the bank trained 27,000 smallholder farmers.
It also supported 212 women entrepreneurs through the GROW Fund, and touched over 100,000 lives through investment clubs and enterprise development.
It’s an ambitious form of capitalism: shareholder-driven, yes—but inclusive and local at heart.
From supporting women-led businesses to maintaining the country’s third-largest branch network, dfcu seems determined to earn its social license to operate.
A cautious path forward
Yet challenges loom. The global economic outlook is fraught with geopolitical shocks from Israel to Ukraine to US-China trade tensions.
While locally, private sector credit growth remains sluggish and has never quite rebounded from the Covid shock.
Tighter capital and liquidity rules and compliance expectations from Capital Markets Authority also raise the bar.
If 2024 was dfcu’s year of redemption, 2025 may be its real test.
Can it turn resilience into long-term relevance in a banking world where digital wins and trust is everything?
