Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR) has announced it is extending its mortgage financing to the Rwandans in the Diaspora to help them access houses back home. The move could possibly help the bank meet its target of the 80 to 100 houses to be constructed this year. Statistics from BCR indicate that at least 30 people in the Diaspora have already registered for the Frw15m-45m valued houses payable in 15 years at an interest rate of 14 per cent per annum. The clients who registered for the mortgage facility were attracted by BCR during the 2nd Rwanda Diaspora Business Expo held in London in August this year. The major intention of this conference was to sell prospective investment opportunities which were unveiled by Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA), but BCR also capitalized on it to market its products Rwandans in Diaspora This comes when statistics from the National Bank of Rwanda estimate that Rwandans in Diaspora remit $80 million in form of investment in various sectors of the economy every year. As of last week, Frw2 billion had already been disbursed for mortgage purposes, part of which is from the BCR corporate bond that was issued on the Rwanda Over The Counter (OTC) market in a bid to raise money to finance the project. Statistics indicate that Rwanda is short of houses by 25,000 units annually.BCR plans to inject Frw3 billion this year to finance mortgages, a move that may see 80 to 100 houses built countrywide. After BCR was commercially acquired, Actis a UK based firm that owns 80 per cent shares in BCR promised to introduce the mortgage financing product that would answer the housing problems of many Rwandans. Apparently, BCR has been turned around into a first growing profit making institution and the second largest private bank with over 30 percent market share in the country. Ends
