RSE CEO, Celestin Rwakumba delivers a public lecture at Univ Of Kigali Musanze Campus on the role of the markets in sourcing development finance
Following the closure of the national Savings Week three days ago, more Rwandans are still thirsty of knowing how Rwanda stock exchange (RSE) market operates.
The Rwanda Stock Exchange Limited was incorporated on 7th October 2005 with the objective of carrying out stock market operations
Using the hashtag #BazaRSE the RSE opened up to the public to frequently asked questions, but results indicate that the public remains unaware of how the bourse can benefit them.
Sampling some of the questions, more Rwandans showed curiosity to invest in stock but with full information.
For example, “what’s a good amount to begin with?” Henrietta Rugamba asked what the best performing entity is at the moment”.
RSE responded that for buying shares, the minimum number of shares one can buy is 100 depending on the prices while on the bonds market it’s Rwf100, 000.
“When is the right time to sell my shares?” Billy Kamanzi asked. RSE replied “People normally have one or more reasons for selling their stocks; mostly if they need the cash or it’s for a market reason.”
Robert Twagira, RSE Head of Information Technology & Operations told KTPress that the intension was to engage with the public every week and answer various questions.
“This has clearly explained our operations on various products and services that Rwanda stock exchange offers much more effectively.
It has also facilitated RSE to reach a large number of investors through live sessions,” Twagira said.
Currently the Rwanda stock market has eight listed companies with Kenyan based entities dominating the counters- Kenya Commercial Bank, Equity Group Rwanda, Uchumi supermarket, and Nation Media Group.
Rwandan companies include Bank of Kigali (BK) Bralirwa (BLR), and new entrants Crystal Telecoms (CTL) and I&M Bank Rwanda (IMR).
Introducing the electronic online trading platform had been targeted to be in place in 2016.
However, this regional initiative aimed at integrating the East African securities markets, making it easier and faster for the capital markets in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda is supposed to transact and make settlements.
For Jean Pierre Kwizera, use of technology is long awaited to speed up the culture of saving. I think it breeds laziness if one has little money to save, but the online platform can encourage one to save,” Kwizera twitted.
RSE engages with the public every week to answer various questions
RSE officials say that this process is being fast-tracked and will be launched very soon.
Currently, over 86% of Rwandans save compared to 71% in 2012. This has seen the number of deposit accounts increase from 1, 736, 203 in June 2016 to 1,871, 858 in June 2017 as number of borrowers dropped from 299,498 to 261,871 in the same period.
Savings collected compared to withdrawals within the period indicate that Rwandans managed to spare over Rwf129 million in 2017 compared to Rwf128 million in 2016.
Introduction of Umurenge SACCOs, creation of the National Investment Trust, promotion of agent banking, mobile money, ATMs and Mobile banking insurance among others have attributed to this growth, enabling Rwandans to financial inclusion.
Claver Gatete, the Finance Minister said that there has been a significant change in adult savings which should be accompanied by more education for all to save more.
“We are in the process of establishing Long Term Saving Scheme (LTSS) targeting all Rwandans including salaried and non- salaried workers. Rwanda National Investment Trust is already linking small investors with capital market through a guided approach of the fund manager,” Gatete said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the local bourse both stock and shares indices dropped to 0.09 and 0.01 points to close at 133.80 and 133.25 respectively, all four listed local companies (Bank of Kigali, Bralirwa, I&M Bank and Crystal telecom) made an impressive deal on their shares.
Bank of Kigali (BK) counter closed at Rwf290 (Rwf300 previous). The trading session recorded a total turnover of Rwf 85,500 from 300 shares traded in 2 deals.
I&M Bank (IMR) counter closed at Rwf 97(Rwf 95 previous). The trading session recorded a total turnover of Rwf 252,200 from 2,600 shares traded in 1 deal.
Bralirwa (BLR) counter closed at Rwf150 (Rwf 145 previous). The trading session recorded a total turnover of Rwf 300,000 from 2,000 shares traded in 1 deal.
While Crystal Telecom (CTL) counter closed at Rwf 69(Rwf 68 previous). The trading session recorded a total turnover of Rwf 34,500 from 500 shares traded in 1 deal.
