BPR Headquarters
BPR Bank Rwanda PLC, a subsidiary of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group, has launched a nationwide campaign to update the information of over 400,000 local shareholders of the former Banque Populaire du Rwanda in order to claim full rights on their shares worth $10 million.
The campaign will consider all persons who had opened accounts in the Banque Populaire du Rwanda between August 4, 1975, and July 31, 2007, to facilitate them to claim the rights to their shares in the Bank irrespective of whether the accounts are operating or have been closed.
In 2022 the Rwanda Parliament approved a decision to task the Ministry of Finance to solve the long-standing issues of members of the former Banque Populaire du Rwanda whose shares and interests had not been made clear for years.
Since its establishment in 1975 as a cooperative bank, the financial institution opened many branches around the country. In 1986, the various autonomous Banques Populaires formed an umbrella called the Union des Banques Populaires du Rwanda (UBPR).
The institution has however been sold thrice with the first sell-off made to Labobank in 2018, to Atlas Mara in 2016, and recently in 2021 to Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).
The campaign to update the information of unregistered shareholders started in the Western Province on July 10, 2023, and will end in the City of Kigali on September 16, 2023, targeting at least 425,000 shareholders (with 12.4% shares worth $10 million).
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of BPR Bank Rwanda PLC Mr. George Rubagumya said the bank puts great value in its shareholders and their rights to shares in the bank.
“With this campaign, we aim to give a chance to thousands of our individual shareholders across the country and in the Diaspora to come forward and update their information to claim the rights to their shares,” Rubagumya said.
How To Claim BPR Bank Shares?
Updating the information of the local shareholders is currently taking place at all BPR Branches and outlets of the Bank across the Country and online via www.bprshareholdersregistration.rw.
Unregistered shareholders in Rwanda should visit the nearest BPR Bank Rwanda Branch to get registered or do it themselves through the website.
A shareholder is requested to possess a national identity card and proof of account ownership in the form of a Cheque book issued by the former Banque Populaire du Rwanda or a bank slip.
Heirs or relatives of the shareholders who died present their identity cards, proof of account ownership, and the death certificate issued by the local authorities.
Registration is also being done for non-individual shareholders such as cooperatives, schools (both public and private), associations, private companies, and public institutions which operated accounts in the former Banque Populaire du Rwanda between August 1975 and July 2007.
The BPR Bank Managing Director, Patience Mutesi said that the bank has 154 branches across the country, agents, and technology that continue to help customers to transact with the bank, however, noted that the shares can also be used as collateral to seek loans in the bank.
