Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente on Saturday, January 28 dropped Jean-Bosco Harelimana from his duties as Director General of Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA), owing to managerial failure, the Premier’s office announced. Details related to Harelimana’s sacking are yet to be made public. RCA is the institution charged with promoting and regulating the cooperatives sector in Rwanda. Ngirente also appointed Pacifique Mugwaneza as the acting Director General. She previously deputized Harelimana. Figures from RCA indicate that there are about 9,706 cooperatives in Rwanda with a share capital of more than Rwf47.8 billion. All the cooperatives count over five million members (comprising over 2.77 million men, and over 2.25 million women). Since its inception, cooperatives, RCA says, have been crucial in improving the welfare of Rwandans, particularly the role Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) have played in boosting financial inclusion in the country. Through SACCOs, over Rwf350 billion have been disbursed in loans to previously unbanked Rwandans which helped thousands of Rwandans – who were formerly – unbanked get finance to run different profitable businesses.
