FGDR-UMOA: how it works, the guarantee and depositor protection
What is the FGDR-UMOA?
The FGDR-UMOA (Deposit Guarantee and Resolution Fund in the WAMU) is a community institution with an economic and financial mission within the West African Monetary Union. It compensates depositors when a member institution fails and funds the resolution measures that make it possible to deal with a failure without interrupting essential services.
Missions of the FGDR-UMOA
The Fund pursues four missions: compensating depositors if a member institution fails, funding resolution measures, funding bank prevention and resolution actions, and promoting financial literacy. A deposit guarantee reassures savers about the safety of their money. It limits the risk of mass withdrawals, which weaken even sound banks.
Resolution refers to all the means used to manage a bank in difficulty, preserving the continuity of its essential activities and limiting the use of public funds. The compensation rules are set by the community texts of the Union.
Members and organisation of the FGDR-UMOA
The Fund is organised into separate windows: a deposit guarantee window for credit institutions and another for decentralised financial systems, that is, microfinance. At the opening of its first forum, in April 2025, it had 245 members across the eight countries of the Union, including 136 credit institutions and 109 microfinance institutions.
Its Board of Directors is chaired by the Governor of the BCEAO, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou. This chairmanship links the Fund to the central bank of the Union. The first forum of the Fund was held in Dakar from 8 April 2025, on the theme of deposit guarantee as a key mechanism of financial stability.
Place of the FGDR-UMOA in the financial stability framework
The Fund works alongside other players. The WAMU Banking Commission licenses and supervises institutions, imposes sanctions and, through its Resolution Board, validates the resolution plans of systemically important banks. The BCEAO ensures liquidity and monetary stability. Each has a specific role in preventing and handling banking crises.
It differs from the Financial Stability Fund of the Union, endowed with FCFA 383 billion and made operational by a decision of the Council of Ministers of 3 July 2026. The latter provides emergency aid to states exposed to default on their public securities, whereas the FGDR-UMOA protects depositors and funds the resolution of institutions.
Stakes of deposit guarantee in the WAMU
The Banking Commission monitors 493 institutions subject to its supervision at the end of December 2025, including 161 credit institutions and 293 large microfinance institutions. The spread of banking access, the rise in credit to the economy, of 6.6% at the end of June 2026 according to the BCEAO, and the growth of electronic money increase the number of depositors covered by the mechanism.