Uganda Banks Validate Cyber Fraud Assessment Amid UGX 72.1 Billion Fraud Losses

The Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA), in partnership with Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSD Uganda), has convened a Cyber and Fraud Risk Landscape Assessment Validation Workshop.

The workshop brought together commercial banks, Payment Service Providers (PSPs), regulators, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and development partners to validate findings from a nationwide assessment and agree on priority actions to strengthen cybersecurity across the financial sector.

The workshop reviewed findings from a cyber and fraud risk assessment conducted by Milima Security, which covered 45 financial institutions across all regulatory categories and tiers. According to UBA, the assessment is the most comprehensive study of its kind undertaken for Uganda’s financial sector.

Sector Faces Rising Cybercrime and Fraud Risks

The assessment comes amid growing cyber and fraud threats facing Uganda’s financial services industry. According to the findings, there are 887 unresolved cybercrime cases currently in the country’s detection-to-justice pipeline.

The Uganda banking sector also recorded fraud losses amounting to UGX 72.1 billion in 2024, while more than 1.2 billion mobile transactions were processed during the year, creating an expanding digital payments environment increasingly targeted by cybercriminals.

The workshop was convened to validate the assessment findings and align stakeholders on coordinated measures to strengthen cyber resilience and fraud prevention across the financial ecosystem.

UBA Highlights Industry Collaboration

Speaking during the workshop, Uganda Bankers’ Association Executive Director Wilbrod Owor said collaboration remains central to addressing cyber and financial crime.

“Recognising that no single institution can address these challenges alone, the Uganda Bankers’ Association and our partners established the Financial Sector Anti-Fraud Consortium (AFC) to promote collaboration, intelligence sharing, coordinated response, and sector-wide capacity to prevent and combat financial fraud jointly.” Owor said.

The Financial Sector Anti-Fraud Consortium brings together financial institutions and key stakeholders to support intelligence sharing, coordinated responses to fraud incidents, and sector-wide initiatives aimed at reducing financial crime.

Cyber Security Operations Centre Supports Sector-Wide Defence

The cyber risk assessment builds on the Uganda Bankers’ Association’s Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) project, which serves as the technical foundation for the banking sector’s broader anti-fraud initiatives.

The CSOC was established to shift member banks from operating individual cybersecurity systems to a centralized industry-wide framework for cyber defence.

Its implementation includes an information-sharing platform that enables member institutions to exchange incident reports, threat intelligence and indicators of compromise to support faster responses to cyberattacks.

Subsequent phases introduce a cyber defence platform designed to coordinate threat detection and defensive actions across participating institutions, helping prevent attacks from spreading through the financial system.

The project also incorporates automated analytics and reporting tools that monitor evolving fraud patterns, identify vulnerabilities and support real-time threat analysis.

Standardised Procedures and Capacity Building

The CSOC framework introduces standard operating procedures intended to improve incident reporting and response across financial institutions.

It also includes training programmes for information technology security teams and legal investigators to strengthen technical readiness and ensure digital evidence meets requirements for prosecution.

According to the Uganda Bankers’ Association, the CSOC supports implementation of the banking sector’s ATMS Strategy and its long-term 10X Growth Plan.

The association said the validation workshop marks the beginning of a coordinated effort among financial institutions, regulators and other stakeholders to strengthen cybersecurity and fraud prevention across Uganda’s financial sector.