Excellency the President of the Republic ;

President of the Senate ;

President of the Chamber of Deputies ;

President of the Supreme Court ;

Right  Honourable  Prime Minister ;

Honourable Ministers ;

Distinguished Guests ;

Ladies and Gentlemen ;

I am very pleased for the opportunity to make a few remarks at the occasion of the inauguration of the new Head Office of Banque de Kigali.

On behalf of the Management team and the entire staff of the National Bank of Rwanda, I convey our congratulations to the Management of the Bank de Kigali

for the great achievement of building such  a nice Head Office of the bank while remaining in total compliance with the key prudential norms set by the National Bank of Rwanda. 

The investment in this Head Office building has significantly improved the standards of customer service, provides for a better working environment from the staff, add value to the ongoing transformation of the financial services industry in our country and last by not least, fits very well within the continued change in the look of Kigali City.

Allow me to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Banque de Kigali for a remarkable contribution to the Rwandan Economy since its creation in December 1966.

Throughout 42 years, the bank has been able to sustain its competitiveness in a very open financial sector as evidenced by its leading role with a market share of 31 % in total assets,  32 % in terms of deposits and its net worth represents 27% of the entire commercial banks sector. The sustainability of Banque de Kigali operations is a result of its historical professional management which succeeded to safeguard depositors’ assets and create significant value added for shareholders’ funds.

The timing of this investment could not have been better, taking place, as it does, in the context of optimism about the country’s economic growth prospects. Under the strong leadership and guidance of His Excellency The President of The Republic, we are witnessing unprecedented change and progressive times for Rwanda. During the past few years, Rwanda has enjoyed  financial stability and robust economic growth. External and fiscal positions have strengthened substantially and the latest projections show sustained improvement in the economic and financial indicators. These encouraging results are the consequence of determined implementation of sound macro economic policies and strong governance reform program.

In line with these developments, the banking sector has continuously progressed during the past few years. It has grown in strength as banks have recapitalized, improved their business processes and introduced new products for the benefit of their customers. The National Bank of Rwanda has taken steps to encourage competition and improve access to financial services.

I strongly believe that the implementation of our Financial Sector Development Program will result in significant changes to the competitive landscape. The banks that will do well in this more competitive environment are those that are able to innovate, implement appropriate risk management and provide cost effective services to their customers.

Excellency the President of the Republic ;

Distinguished Guests ;

Ladies and Gentlemen ;

Even though the Rwandan banking sector is well capitalised today, highly liquid and profitable, it still faces challenges to play a more significant role in supporting economic development and wealth creation in our country. The banking sector is still characterized by inefficiencies reflected in the high cost of financial services in Rwanda.

In order to become more responsive to the needs of the Rwandan economy, banks, including Banque de Kigali, have to show more dynamism in saving mobilization to increase the pool of financial resources available to provide convenient and cost effective services to their customers.

In this regard, I urge the board of directors and management of Banque de Kigali for the need to rethink the role of this financial institution in the development of our financial sector.

With its leading position in the market and financial strengths, Banque de Kigali can significantly contribute to improve competition in the banking sector and allow sharing growth profits with its clients through a revised pricing policy. There is a need for more efforts for capacity building for its staff and we expect Banque de Kigali to play a key role in the development of our domestic capital market.

May I now once again congratulate the shareholders and staff of Banque de Kigali on this landmark event which symbolises the ongoing institutional transformation of our financial system and is a positive step forward to achieve the 2020 vision to make Rwanda an important financial centre that is well integrated into the global economy.

I wish Banque de Kigali  a very success in its endeavours.

I thank you for your kind attention.

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