The government has established a national centre to support women-owned and women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (WMSMEs), in a move aimed at improving financial advisory services and expanding access to funding, the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) has said.

Laura Rwagasana, Senior Financial Innovation Analyst at BNR, said the centre is designed to strengthen financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs, who make up a significant share of business operators in the country.

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Women account for 40 per cent of small and medium-sized business operators in Rwanda, but only 25 per cent can access loans from financial institutions, she noted.

The new centre seeks to close this gap by promoting tailored financial solutions and support services.

Rwagasana said the initiative is part of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code (WE Finance Code), a global platform aimed at tackling barriers to women’s access to finance.

"We need to address barriers such as the high cost of financial products and services, lack of collateral, limited gender-sensitive policies, low financial literacy, and a shortage of tailored products,” she said.

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Globally, more than 250 million women-led MSMEs contribute significantly to job creation and economic growth, yet face a financing gap estimated at $1.7 trillion.

The WE Finance Code was launched in 2023 in Marrakesh during the World Bank-IMF meetings on gender finance and data gaps. Rwanda joined the initiative in 2025 to strengthen access to finance for women-led businesses.

A business qualifies as a WMSME if women own at least 51 per cent, or at least 20 per cent while holding leadership roles and 30 per cent board representation.

Rwagasana noted that over 90 per cent of Rwanda’s businesses are MSMEs, most of them women-owned, making targeted interventions critical.

So far, three tailored loan products have been introduced, while more than 12,000 women entrepreneurs have received training and mentorship.

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"To enhance access to finance, one new Ikimina savings account has 99 per cent women members. The interest rate is seven per cent, and up to 30 per cent of savings can be used as collateral,” she added.

Women entrepreneurs are already seeing results from such initiatives.

Anne Marie Nyirambwirande, a businesswoman from Musanze District, said she started her venture in 2005 with Rwf25,000, trading second-hand clothes.

She later joined a savings group of 10 women contributing Rwf50,000 monthly, which enabled her to access credit and expand her business.

"I later secured a loan of Rwf2 million from a microfinance institution and another Rwf1.5 million from the savings association, giving me capital of Rwf3.5 million to start importing clothes from Uganda,” she said. "In 2012, I acquired a loan of Rwf6 million, followed by Rwf10 million in 2020, and recently Rwf17 million. I have since bought a house worth Rwf50 million.”

Despite progress, experts say challenges persist.

Ruth Madl, an expert at German Sparkassenstiftung Rwanda, said high interest rates, strict collateral requirements, and limited flexibility continue to hinder access to finance.

"We work with microfinance institutions to develop better products,” she said.

Jackson Kwikiriza, Executive Director of the Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), said providing low-interest loans to young women entrepreneurs aged 18–35 could significantly boost job creation under the National Employment and Skills Strategy (NESS).

He cited initiatives such as Kataza and SERVE, which mainly support young women and are expected to help more than 70,000 women create jobs by 2028 across several districts.

At the policy level, Moise Bigirimana, Acting Executive Director of the Financial Sector Development and Conduct Directorate at BNR, said combining financial and non-financial support is expected to increase women-led MSME customers by 28 per cent.

"These commitments involve 11 institutions,” he said, noting that they have also pledged to grow the loan portfolio for women-led MSMEs by 21 per cent.

He added that the number of women-led MSME customers has already grown by about 24 per cent in one year, while the loan portfolio has expanded to over Rwf65 billion.

"Several products have been introduced, with three new ones already launched, while existing products have been upgraded to better meet women’s needs,” he said.

BNR plans to onboard microfinance institutions as signatories to the WE Finance Code starting in July, in a bid to further close the gender financing gap.