A Steering Committee has been set up to work on IT partnership between financial and government institutions in charge of ICT development will start activities earlier in February 2010.  This decision was a result of elaborated discussions during a meeting held on 28^th January 2010 at the National Bank of Rwanda between Dr. Ignace Gatare, the Minister in charge of ICT in the President’s Office, Mr. François Kanimba, Central bank Governor and Mr. John Gara, CEO, Rwanda Development Board, Banks and insurance companies managing directors.  

With the exception of the Ministry in charge of ICT and the central bank, the steering committee will be composed among others by IT specialists representing public and private Insurance companies, banks and microfinance institutions associations. It will be chaired by Rwanda development board.

The Government of Rwanda is implementing an ICT master plan which has

The National Bank of Rwanda in collaboration with Savings Bank Foundation for International Cooperation (SBFIC) organized a one day workshop on microfinance law and regulation in Rwanda. The workshop was held at Lapalisse Nyandungu Hotel on 27^th January 2009, the function was attended by more than 200 heads of Microfinance institutions and BNR staff in charge of microfinance inspection.

In his opening remarks, the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, Mr. François KANIMBA, urged microfinance institutions and saving cooperatives to respect the law and regulations governing microfinance business in the country in order to strengthen the sector. He also commended the role of microfinance institutions in contributing to the long term development.

The central bank is concerned about MFIs functioning especially in respecting the regulatory framework. Such workshop is a forum allowing making sure that heads microfinance institutions are sufficiently

On Monday 18^th January 2010, Dr. Ignace Gatare, Minister in President’s Office in charge of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), visited the National Bank of Rwanda. He was accompanied by Mr. Patrick NYIRISHEMA, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Development Board in charge of Information Technology (RDB-IT); Mr. David KANAMUGIRE, Director General of ICT, in the Ministry of ICT in the President’s Office.

The Minister in charge of ICT’s visit aimed at gathering knowledge of progress made by the Central Bank in implementing ICT initiatives that are in line with the government’s ICT Plan & Vision 2020.

The visit also aimed to encourage the Central Bank to partner with Commercial banks, RDB and the Ministry in charge of ICT in improving ICT applications  in the banking sector.

On arrival at the Bank, Minister Ignace Gatare was welcomed by the Governor of National Bank of Rwanda Mr. KANIMBA François and Vice Governor Ambassador Gate

A memorandum on Foreign Capital Monitoring and analysis was signed by National Bank of Rwanda, National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, Rwanda Development Boards and Private Sector Federation.

The signing ceremony gathering Heads of above mentioned institutions was held at the National Bank of Rwanda Headquarter on 18th December 2009.

The signed agreement aimed at promoting, improving and developing inter-institutional activities associated to obtaining data regarding foreign assets and liabilities, by performing an annual study known as the “Foreign Assets and Liabilities and Investor Perception Survey.” The agreement will also help to quantify Foreign Assets and Liabilities in Rwanda and to provide, by performing these surveys, information that can be used in regional and national economic analysis, investment promotion and facilitation, and subsequent decision-making.

It is impo

 In its quarterly meeting held on 18^th December 2009 at the NBR headquarters, the NBR Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to revise downward the central bank policy rate, known as the “Key Repo Rate” (KRR), from 9% to 7.5%. 

In the current macro-economic environment characterized by a stable and low inflation, estimated at around 6% in December 2009 on annual basis, as well as the increasing liquidity in the banking system, this reduction of the KRR aims at improving the credit conditions to the economy. 

 The NBR monetary policy objective remains to maintain the price stability, while stimulating domestic savings by keeping positive interest rates in real terms and encouraging private sector investments, for a higher economic growth. The current MPC decision is in line with this ob

On 16^th December 2009, Mr. Kanimba François, the Governor of National Bank of Rwanda and his delegation comprising Mr. Gatete Claver Deputy Governor,Mrs. Kantengwa Angélique, Senior Director of Financial Stability and Murorunkwere Marguerite Director of banks Supervision visited Banque Commerciale du Rwanda (BCR). There, he was warmly welcome by BCR management team and the staff. The Governor’s visit to the commercial bank aimed at fulfilling the central bank role of onsite supervision.   

In a meeting, with BCR management, Governor François KANIMBA received a briefing on the current bank’s financial health.

According to the Managing Director, Mr. Anand Sanjeev, at the beginning of the 2009, BCR set specific targets and objectives to be achieved. By the end of this year 2009, all the targets have been successfully implemented. For instance, the bank has reviewed its organization str

The Private Sector Federation (PSF) in conjunction with the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) organised East African Financial Services Exhibition 2009 focused on the theme: “Financial Sector Competitiveness for Rapid Growth and Development” .  The exhibition was held at Gikondo PSF Exhibition Show Ground from 8^th to 11^th December 2009. The event was targeted by local and regional financial institutions.    

At the opening ceremony, Mr. KANIMBA François the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda   who was also the Guest of Honor at the opening ceremony said that he considered the financial sector exhibition a very important occasion because it was in line with the country of Rw

During a two days roundtable convened by Rwanda Development Board on the Construction and Real Estate Investment in Rwanda which took place at SERENA Hotel on 19^th May 2009, Mr. François KANIMBA, the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda made a presentation on financing opportunities for property development in Rwanda. The roundtable was attended by over 250 local and international property developers, banking sector representatives and government officials among others.

In his presentation, Mr. François KANIMBA explained that based on demographic and urbanization trends, housing needs are enormous in Rwanda. He stated that 25,000 new houses should be built yearly in urban areas. The average house price in 2008 is RWF 20 millions, a volume which implies a financing need of up to RWF 500 billion per year.

According to the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, the total supply of mortgage remains far below the demand despite the g

Twelfth Meeting of the Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) - an East African Community (EAC) Committee tasked with the mandate of laying the foundation for a monetary union in East Africa - was held at SERENA Hotel, Kigali Rwanda, on May 7, 2009. The meeting was hosted by the National Bank of Rwanda and chaired by Mr François KANIMBA, Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda and was attended by Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya; Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, Governor of the Bank of Uganda; Prof. Benno Ndulu, Governor of the Bank of Tanzania; and Mr. Gaspard Sindayigaya, Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi. The Secretary General of the EAC, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu also participated to the EAC Governors meeting.

The objective of the meeting was among others, to assess the progress made towards the implementation of decisions of the 11^th MAC

From 12 to 15 January 2009, at Hotel La Palisse Nyandungu, Delegates from East African Community central banks held two technical meetings of Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) of East African Community.

The first meeting was held from January 12^th to 13^th 2009. Its task was to edit on the audit report made on MAC achievements and its challenges during 1998-2008 period.

The second meeting was held from January 14^th to 15^th 2009 and was attended by members of Economic Affairs Subcommittee of MAC. This subcommittee serves as an EAC Central Banks advisory organ on economic matters. Participants shared results on

The Rwandan Diaspora together with the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) have finalised plans to establish an investment fund by Rwandans living in the Diaspora that will be fully operational by March this year.

The fund, known as the Rwandan Diaspora Mutual Fund (RDMF) fine tuned and adopted by the 2008 Diaspora Retreat last month, is a pool of funds to be created by Rwandans abroad to empower and mobilise themselves to invest in their home country through remittances as a way of contributing to national development.

Presenting the current progress of the fund to the media during a press conference held at the National Bank of Rwanda on 6th January 2009, the RDMF Promoting team consisting of Rwandans living in Diaspora, revealed that the mutual fund, supported by the majority of Rwandans in the Diaspora, will be fully established in March 2009.

Banks and insurance companies currently serve only a fraction of the population according to a study's findings released at Serena Hotel Wednesday, 3 December 2008.

The survey - FinScope Rwanda 2008 - prepared for the Central Bank by the FinMark Trust, a South African non-profit organization, points out that only 14 percent of the Rwandan population above 18 years of age use banks.

This and other revelations were duly acknowledged by many, including Finance Minister Mr James Musoni, who was the chief guest at the function.

"Access to finance is still a problem that afflicts all developing countries, especially in Africa," he said, shortly after pointing out that the study undertaking was a clear manifestation that government and development partners recognized both the financial

According to the Final communiqué, the 32^nd Ordinary Meeting of the Assembly of Governors of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) which was held in Kigali, Rwanda, on 22 August 2008 ended with the election of Mr François KANIMBA, Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, as the New AACB Chairperson for the year 2008/2009. The composition of the new bureau of the Association for this period is as follows:

            1)      Governor of  the National Bank of Rwanda, AACB Chairperson, 

         2)     

The Governor of The National Bank of Rwanda invited Rwandan business community and financial sector stakeholders for the next conference on monetary policy and financial stability statement to be held on 11^th August 2008 at Kigali SERENA Hotel. During the conference, a particular emphasis wiill be put on strategies adopted to curb inflation and accelerate reforms in the financial sector.

This important meeting is organized every six months and its aim is to provide business community with complete and strategic information needed for business planning.

On 3^rd and 4^th June 2008, Mr François KANIMBA, Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda  held meeting with members and management team of CLECAM Nyamugari, Nyarutovu and Musanze, three saving and credit cooperatives located in Burera, Gakenke and Musanze District in Northern Province. He called upon all local stakeholders to build strong MFI Institutions. His trip in the area aimed to encourage MFI Good governance, to build confidence among CLECAM members for future savings schemes, loans recovering activities, good utilization of loans and follow up of the management of their financial institutions.

Governor François KANIMBA stated that strong Microfinance institutions speed up development in rural areas by funding small projects and enabling poverty alleviation process.

On Tuesday, 22 April 2008, Honorable Musoni James, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning visited the National Bank of Rwanda. In his welcome speech, Mr François Kanimba, Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda briefed his Guest on BNR missions and organisational chart.

Honorable Minister appreciated how the National Bank of Rwanda is implementing the monetary policy and called upon BNR management team to participate actively in EDPRS program so that Rwanda should achieve its targuet to became a financial hub before the end of 2012.

He invited  the National Bank of Rwanda to play its role in socio-economic developement of the country by pushing  economic sectors to the productivity. In this regard, the Minister underlined the role of BNR researchers by inviting them to advise on how the increasing national budget and the  monetary policy can help to enable the productivity.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning visited some departements within the Bank where he witnessed prog