Senate has expressed concern that few Rwandans invest in capital market, calling for strategies to increase the uptake in this financial product.

They said that this is one of the challenges that hinder the development of the country’s economy especially the financial sector.

Senators made the recommendation on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 as they adopted the assessment by the Committee on Economic Development and Finance of the 2019/2020 annual report of the National Bank of Rwanda.

Some of the reasons they blamed for the low uptake are lack of understanding of how the capital market works and its profitability.

Senator Juvenal Nkusi, the committee Chairperson said that during their assessment, they analysed the state and performance of the capital market.

He said it realised that the Central Bank encouraged investors especially small and large enterprises to venture into the capital market, which helped increase their participation in purchasing treasury bills and bonds.

In 2019, Nkusi said, banks accounted for 36 percent of the treasury bills and bonds purchased, different enterprises accounted for 53 percent, while individual investors took the remaining 10.8 percent share.

In June 2020, banks had 37 percent compared to 55 percent for different enterprises, and a modest 8 percent share for individual investors.

"This shows that there are few individual investors in treasury bills and bonds market, yet it is a good means for making savings,” indicating that the [treasury bills and bonds] market was estimated at Rwf574 billion by end of 2020.

"The Committee members find it necessary that the [Central] Bank should continue to raise people’s awareness about capital market and the importance of making savings through this market,” Nkusi said.

He pointed to the need to speed up the digitisation of stock market as one of the means to increase more involvement of Rwandans in this sector.

Senator Nkusi said that the investment in treasury bills and bonds provide stable profits while they are low-risk ventures, and do not require an investor a lot in terms of management [as that service is the responsibility of asset managers].

Senator Evode Uwizeyimana said that capital market is an unpopular product among Rwandans in general thus far, expressing the need to educate the population about it.

"This is the issue of an unknown product which needs to be publicized so that Rwandans know how this capital market works and what interest they can get from it,” he said.