Dr. Karusisi recognised some of the bank’s loyal clients in Nyagatare district, including Nyagatare Hospital.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Kigali (BK Plc), Dr. Diane Karusisi has asked residents of Nyagatare District to take advantage of the opportunities available to get agricultural and livestock loans from the bank to exploit the economic potential of the district.
Karusisi said that the district has low uptake of agricultural loans at a rate of 0.3% of the loans granted in the whole country, which is something shameful for the district which is rich in agriculture and animal husbandry.
The Bank of Kigali CEO was this October 7, 2022 visiting her clients and the activities financed by the bank with a purpose of advising the customers to increase and maximize the benefits of the loans they received.
Among the activities visited are medical and education facilities, agricultural and livestock cooperatives, agricultural, livestock processing facilities and commercial activities that have a close relation with the bank.
Karusisi said that she was surprised to find that Nyagatare district, as a secondary satellite city to the City of Kigali, has a low borrowing rate of 0.3% yet it is rich in agriculture and livestock.
Dr. Karusisi visited different businesses in the district and said that the borrowing rate in the district remains low yet the bank has credit facilities to support businesses and agriculture.
“We found out that there are opportunities in Nyagatare but their loan uptake rate of 0.3% compared to the amount of loans we provide is small yet there are investment opportunities here,” Karusisi said.
She called on residents of Nyagatare to contact the bank in order to get opportunities to utilize the available loan offered by the bank.
Agriculture production and livestock are the principal economic activities in Nyagatare and the area is known for having large numbers of cows and milk production.
Nyagatare lies in an area of grassy plains, and low hills, with excellent views in all directions and also contains half of Akagera National Park where is found a vast number of wildlife including African buffalo, antelopes and more other ruminants.
The district Private Sector chairperson, Laurent Kamurase said it is a fact that farmers and livestock keepers in Nyagatare do not take bank loans and this is due to lack of information.
“We are going to campaigns on loan uptake so as to promote agriculture and livestock sector in the community,” Kamurase said.
Kamurase noted that there are big projects that BK invest in, which include animal product processing factories, a modern district office and other infrastructure that enable the private sector performance.
“The big projects that BK can invest in are animal product processing such as leather, animal feed factories and mobile veterinary laboratories,”
In 2019 BK CEO announced plans to open competition in agricultural financing, after it managed to come closer to its ‘billion-dollar bank’ mark with a net income of Rwf75 billion (USD8.3m) then.
This was followed by BK entering a Rwf30 billion deal with European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance several businesses and firms engaged in a range of productive sectors in Rwanda.
The same year it launched a new digital product called “IKOFI”, a revolutionary universal wallet that offers financial services with focus on Rwandan farmers, agro-dealers, Agri-businesses and other players in the agricultural ecosystem.
