Bank of Kigali is playing a role in supporting and boosting the agriculture sector by financing agriculture projects with a high profitable possibility. This was announced on May 5 in Huye district where the CEO of BK, Diane Karusisi, and the top management team met their clients in order to seek means to offer excellent services, partner and support their ongoing development projects. One of the sectors that the bank anticipates impacting is agriculture as it employs over 60 per cent of the population. It is for this reason that the bank introduced the agribusiness initiative. According to Alexis Bizimana, the head of agribusiness at BK, the drive started in 2022 though not yet well conversant to customers. It aims to align with the government initiative to support the agriculture sector, and the economy at large. BK coordinates with other partners to select the value chain to work with and identify the business opportunities. So far, Rwf1.3 trillion has been injected, he stressed. “Our ambition is to finance Rwf150 billion in five years. We are focusing on the right people and there is a team in place to support this move. We shall have a relationship manager who understands the value chain. We have already created a number of products, and have the right data to focus on the specificity of the sector,” Bizimana noted. BK is creating an awareness campaign to ensure that all their staff in diverse branches understand agribusiness, the vision of the bank and the coordination of agribusiness strategy. Bizimana believes that, this will best support the external awareness as the team will be knowledgeable about the initiative and offer the appropriate information and support to allow farmers apprehend what the bank is doing. Bizimana stressed that the agriculture sector has potential as the market is huge to tap into as banks, stressing that banks are providing between 5% to 6 % of the total loan injected in agriculture. “The target for the farmer in Rwanda is 10.4 % by 2024. Bassed on vision 2050, the goal is still high. There is a spillover effect if we offer finance to farmers. Once they’re able to receive inputs on the required quantities, production will be increased, thus having enough food to eat. Prices will be affordable, and othe aspects like nutrition will be contributed to.” BK is anticipating increasing the export volume to gain more income to ensure that the gap between imports and exports is closed. This will be expected to stabilise the economy as part of improving the trade balance. According to Bizimana, BK will follow proper guidelines by working with different partners to enable farmers to benefit from the economic recovery fund, export growth fund,and others. He is optimistic that in the long run, job opportunities will be created, and the poverty rate will be lessened. According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in 2021, the poverty rate was at 78 per cent with rapid population growth rate of 3.4 per cent. He therefore calls upon farmers to visit any of the BK branches to receive support,and understand all products they would benefit from. Agriculture is a priority sector in Rwanda’s Vision 2050 national development strategy. The government intends to replace subsistence farming with fully monetised and technology-intensive commercial agriculture and agro-processing by 2050.
