AFR boosts financial inclusion efforts with Rwf227m grant

Government efforts to promote digital services and financial inclusion have been boosted with a Rwf227.2 million ($271,489) grant to three firms involved in financial and ICT service provision. The money from Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) will benefit; TransUnion, Umutanguha Finance Company and the Rwanda Private Sector Federation (PSF) ICT Chamber, according to Waringa Kibe, the AFR country director. The funding also seeks to help the organisations build the capacity of staff to develop solutions that increase uptake of financial services among low-income earners through ICT-enabled facilities, Kibe added. TransUnion got $120,000 (about Rwf100.4 million) of the funds; $131,489 went to Umutanguha Finance Company, while the ICT Chamber received $20,000 of the grant. AFR’s country director Waringa Kibe and Jules Theoneste Ndahayo, CEO Umutanguha Finance Company shake hands after the signing “The money will also enable the organisations to develop capacity of their staff to be able to offer reliable and fast services to clients,” Kibe said during the signing of the grant agreement at AFR head offices in Kigali. Jean Bosco Iyacu, the AFR director of programmes, said the intervention also aimed at promoting digital services. Iyacu added that the grant will help the beneficiary institutions to develop solutions to improve services and cut operational costs, as well as enhance financial services among low-income people. “It is essential for these institutions to build the capacity of their employees to be able to design innovative products that are relevant on market and meet client needs,” he said. Beneficiaries speak out Aimable Nkuranga, the country manager of TransUnion, said the firm will use the $120,000 (about Rwf100.4 million) grant to develop an app that will enable bank clients to access their accounts on their mobile phones. “The platform will also be used to provide financial education and sensitise users on the benefits of a good credit rating,” Nkuranga told The New Times after signing the deal. AFR’s country director Waringa Kibe and Jules Theoneste Ndahayo, CEO Umutanguha Finance Company signing an agreement. He added that the app will make it easy for the public to get information from their banks. Nkuranga revealed the firm would also roll out credit scoring tools for financial institutions. “These credit scoring tools will ease loan processing by financial services providers and hence will increase access to credit,” he said. Alex Ntare, CEO of ICT Chamber at PSF, said they got an additional $20,000 from Insight2Impact (i2i), noting that the chamber will use all the funding “in advancing financial inclusion through data innovation”. Launched in 2015, Insight2Impact, a resource centre, aims to promote provision and use of evidence-based data by private and public sector actors to improve financial inclusion in the country. Ntare said, “The money will help us develop new technology companies and support upcoming software developers to deepen ICT skills among the Rwandan population and reduce dependence on imported expertise in the sector.” Speaking at the event, Jules Theoneste Ndahayo, the chief executive of Umutanguha Finance Company, said the firm seeks to improve services through farmer outreaches to better understand their needs. AFRs country director Waringa Kibe and Aimable Nkuranga, the country manager of TransUnion shake hands after signing an agreement He said they will use some of the $131,489 grant to buy motorcycles to ease movement of staff, especially when they are going to assess farmers’ projects that need funding. “This way, we expect to increase our agriculture loan portfolio by 30 per cent in two years where a total of 10,000 farmers will access finance,” Ndahayo said.

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AFR boosts financial inclusion efforts with Rwf227m grant