You have heard the bad news about rising interest rates: loans cost more, and prices keep climbing. But there is a flip side that rarely gets attention.

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High rates also mean the money you save can finally earn a real return. Recently the Rwandan government offered a Treasury bond paying around 12 percent a year, far more than an ordinary savings account. If your money is sitting idle, it may be working far less hard than it could be.

Saving is not the same as investing

Saving (kwizigamira) means keeping money safe and within reach: in a bank account, a SACCO, or mobile money.

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Investing means putting money to work so it grows, earning interest or returns (inyungu). Both matter. But money left only in a basic account earns very little, and today’s high inflation eats away at its value.

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Making some of your savings earn more is how you protect and grow it.

Government bonds: low risk, solid return

A Treasury bond is simply a loan you give the government, which pays you interest in return.

The recent 10-year bond paid 12 percent a year, in two payments every year, and because it is backed by the government the risk is very low.

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After the 5 percent tax on interest, you would keep roughly 11.4 percent. That’s well above what any savings account offers.

You can start as an ordinary investor with as little as Rwf100,000. Put that much into such a bond and you would earn about Rwf12,000 over a year, roughly Rwf11,400 after tax, paid to you in two installments.

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And you are not fully locked in: bonds can be sold on the Rwanda Stock Exchange before they mature if you need the cash. One honest note: with inflation this high, even 12 percent will not make you rich in real terms, but it beats leaving money idle, where it loses value faster.

Nonetheless, there’s a huge, national benefit to buying these bonds.

This 12 percent offering represents a deliberate move by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to mobilize domestic savings as an alternative to taking on expensive foreign debt. So, by purchasing these bonds, Rwandan citizens are directly financing their own national infrastructure and development projects, demonstrating a collective commitment to financial self-reliance.

How to start

To buy government securities, you need a Central Securities Depository account, which you can open through a commercial bank such as Bank of Kigali or BPR.

When the National Bank of Rwanda announces a new bond or Treasury bill, you complete an application through your bank, place your bid, and pay. It is more straightforward than most people expect, and bank staff can walk you through it.

The stock exchange, for the patient

The Rwanda Stock Exchange also lets you buy shares of listed companies.

As a part-owner you can earn dividends and gain if the share price rises. But shares carry more risk than bonds. Stock prices rise and fall, so they suit money you can leave invested for years, not funds you will need next month.

Start small, learn as you go, and never invest money you cannot afford to tie up.

You do not need to be wealthy to invest. You need Rwf100,000, a bank account, and the willingness to begin.

The same high rates squeezing borrowers are handing savers a rare opportunity. So put some of your money to work, and let it earn for you.

The writer is a personal finance expert, speaker, and author of 16 books including the New York Times bestseller "Zero Debt." She and her husband Earl Cox are expanding their financial education firm in Rwanda to support financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and economic empowerment.