BDF CEO Vincent Munyeshyaka
Members of the Public Account Committee (PAC) yesterday expressed disappointment following poor management of a project that was dedicated to poverty eradication.
The shortfall was blamed on the Business Development Fund(BDF), a government institution that was created in 2011 with an aim to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in accessing finance as well as advisory services.
The fund, Rwf 817 million, a loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was dedicated to the Post Harvest Resilience project known as PASS implemented in partnership with Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA).
The Chief Executive Officer of BDF Vincent Munyeshyaka told the parliament, that they entered this partnership without proper precautions, which resulted in failure to implement.
He explained that in the first place, the funding institutions designed the project and worked with banks but did not involve BDF in the process.
The banks however, she said, were supposed to offer loans to the project beneficiaries, which was a prerequisite for BDF to offer a guarantee.
“The banks did not appreciate the way the project was designed; it was not possible to implement it within the time-frame of 11 months. For banks, awarding loans and even for us, offering guarantee in such a little time was practically not feasible. We were compelled to return the money without use,” said Munyeshyaka.
Among PAC members, MP Germaine Mukabarisa found this a weakness; returning the money meant for poverty alleviation and climate resilience without use while there are many people in need of financial capital.
“If we had got money to solve a problem that we had but did not use them, isn’t that an answer that we failed to put to good use? What else are we looking for? Returning such an amount of money is shame on us,” she said.
BDF however, indicated that when fund channeled to them through Ministry of Agriculture are not properly disbursed to the beneficiaries, BDF is answerable.
