BPR Bank Rwanda has announced that its Managing Director Patience Mutesi will leave the position on October 31, after more than three and a half years at the lender.

In a statement sent to The New Times on Monday, October 26, the bank said Xavier Mugisha Shema, the current Executive Director for Commercial Businesses, had been appointed acting managing director from November 1, subject to regulatory approvals.

ALSO READ: BPR Bank expects sustained growth after 35% profit jump driven by lending expansion

Without giving details, the statement said Mutesi would leave the lender "to pursue other interests."

The bank’s board of directors and management team said they "acknowledge her decision with regret and extend their sincere appreciation for her leadership and dedicated service" since taking over in February 2023.

"The Board will, in due course, initiate the process of recruiting a substantive Managing Director,” the statement said.

During her tenure, the bank, a subsidiary of KCB Group, recorded a net profit of Rwf40.9 billion in 2025, a 35 per cent increase from Rwf29.7 billion in 2024. Its total assets also grew from Rwf971.9 billion to Rwf1.4 trillion over the same period, according to the bank’s 2025 financial report.

ALSO READ: BPR Bank Rwanda Plc Wins "Bank of the Year – Rwanda” 2025

Mutesi oversaw the bank’s growth and transformation following the merger of KCB Bank Rwanda and Banque Populaire du Rwanda.

Before joining BPR Bank Rwanda, Mutesi served as Country Director for TradeMark East Africa, a position she had held from 2016 to early 2023.

She previously worked at Ecobank Rwanda, where she headed corporate banking. She has also served on the boards of BPR Bank Rwanda, MTN Rwandacell and Rwanda Cooperation, as well as on the advisory council of One Acre Fund in Rwanda.