PM Dr Ngirente presided over the official launch of BPR Bank Rwanda Plc

Keynote address by the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister
Dr. Edouard Ngirente
At the launch of BPR Bank Rwanda
Kigali Convention Center, 4th May 2022
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Senior Government officials, here present,
Distinguished guests and partners,
Good morning and welcome,
1. Today, as we gather here to launch the merger of Banque Populaire
du Rwanda (BPR) and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Rwanda to
become the BPR Bank Rwanda Plc, I am pleased to join you
representing His Excellency Paul Kagame, the President of the
Republic of Rwanda.
2. Before I talk about this launch, I would like to commend and highlight
the key role played by the banking sector in our growth and financial
inclusion.
3. The banking sector is crucial to the growth of Rwanda’s economy. It is
the primary supplier of credits to individuals and firms as well as the
protection of depositors’ assets.
4. In 2021, the financial sector, which grew by 18%, contributed
significantly to the 10.9% growth of Rwanda’s economy.
§ Distinguished guests,
5. In addition to the role of banking sector in our growth, we cannot
forget its role in financial inclusion. For example, more than 36% of
adults, equivalent to 2.6 million people in Rwanda are using banking
services. This represents a growth of 1.1 million since 2016.
6. We also know that in total 93% of adults in Rwanda are financially
included, with both formal and informal financial products.
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7. High uptake and usage of banking products has led to formal financial
inclusion. The growth in the banking products or services was driven
by both savings account and also transactional products including
credit facility products such as credit and overdraft.
8. During this Covid-19 pandemic period, we cannot talk about the role
of the banking sector without mentioning its role in the economic
recovery.
9. As part of Rwanda’s recovery efforts from Covid-19, the Government
established the Economic Recovery Fund (ERF) to support the
recovery process of businesses hit by Covid-19. In this regard, through
the Central Bank, the Government provided funds to Banks and
Microfinance Institutions.
10. These funds supported in loan restructuring and recapitalization of
businesses whose failure would negatively impact the resilience of the
banking sector.
11. The Government commends the flexibility of commercial banks in
restructuring loans for clients as part of measures to help them to
cope with the adverse effects of the pandemic.
§ Distinguished guests,
12. In addition to all efforts made to support financial sector development
during the Covid-19 period, the Government of Rwanda put in place a
program called the Manufacture and Build to Recover Program
(MBRP). This is a specific program aimed at stimulating economic
recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and scaling up the
manufacturing sector.
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13. This program was established after realizing that lowering business
costs is required to attract more investments into the economy,
specifically in the manufacturing and construction sector with its
spillover effects. As of today, 94 projects have applied for the program.
Among these, 79 have been approved.
14. The Government of Rwanda expects the banking sector actors to
continue to support this program, through the provision of necessary
credits to the approved projects/businesses. You are our key partners
in this journey.
§ Distinguished guests,
15. Another sector contributing to our economy that we want our banking
sector to actively support is the agriculture sector. The Government of
Rwanda has been investing very heavily in de-risking agriculture
sector.
16. In this regard, it has put in place significant irrigation projects,
further, it is providing subsidies to agriculture inputs such as
fertilizers, seeds, artificial insemination and other support to make
agriculture profitable.
17. The Government of Rwanda is confident of the partnership with Banks
and the financial sector in general to play an important role in
addressing the issue of low lending to agriculture sector.
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§ Distinguished guests and partners,
18. Let me now come back to the role KCB has played in our development
journey. In all this journey of banking sector development, I would like
to commend the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group for continued
investment of resources in Rwanda.
19. KCB Group has been in Rwanda since December 2008, however it has
been in existence for over 100 years, with a philosophy of serving local
communities and facilitating their prosperity.
20. We commend the bank’s corporate social responsibility and
sustainability initiatives that have enabled young Rwandans to access
technical and vocational skills in partnership with the Ministry of
Youth...