Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) and the East African Communications Organization (EACO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) seeking to establish a partnership to work together on the Smartphone for All Initiative.
The agreement signed in Kigali on May 4, marks the starting of activities to develop and expand a framework of cooperation between the two entities to promote this initiative.
The Smartphone for All Initiative seeks to make it possible for all people in the six member countries of the East African Community (EAC) to own smartphones to stay connected and to enable them to access a wide range of services including financial, healthcare and other government to citizens’ services.
These smartphones will be availed through micro-loans that will be granted to phone-users by BPR.
Apart from enabling users to make calls and to communicate through texts, smartphones have features that allow users access to information and services such as banking, health, education, sending and receiving emails, among other services.
However, their access is still limited, partly because of their cost which low-income earners cannot afford if they have to pay the expense by themselves, especially in a single payment.
For instance, according to information from the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, while 80 per cent of Rwandans have phones, only an estimated 20 percent of them own smartphones.
Commenting at the signing ceremony, Banque Populaire Du Rwanda Plc Managing Director, Maurice K. Toroitich said they are excited about the partnership which seeks to ease access to smartphones among the population.
"As BPR, we are firmly anchored in the community with our reputation being that of a strong grassroots bank offering the widest footprint of distribution channels including branches and agents across the country. We believe this partnership with EACO to facilitate members of our community to own smartphones only affirms our commitment towards our continued financial inclusion efforts,” he said.
"When members of our community have access to smartphones, we will not only enable them to communicate, but also connect them to a world of many possibilities including access to a wide array of services like banking, education, health care and e-government services among others that will contribute towards their wellbeing. We thank EACO for spearheading this and we cannot wait to see it becoming a reality,” he observed.
Ally Yahaya Simba, Executive Secretary of EACO said they are very pleased to reach this stage with BPR.
"The bank has strong and firm presence in the community; their distinguished products and service offering especially those for individuals, their widest network of 135 branches and 350 agents spread out in different parts of Rwanda presents an opportunity for EACO to drive this Smartphone for All Initiative forward,” he said.
Simba said research has shown that a large number of people in the six member countries of the East African community are not connected because they do not have appropriate platforms, (do not have smartphones).
"As EACO, we want to bridge this gap and we are excited to leverage on BPR’s expertise gained over the years, their financial inclusion agenda and their vision of extending banking services to the under-banked members in the community, to pilot this initiative in Rwanda to enable the access of Smartphones to many Rwandans,” he indicated.
EACO is a regional organization with international legal personality which brings together national ICT regulators and operators/service providers in the communication sector in EAC.
Currently, BPR is the largest banking network in Rwanda with 135 branches, 51 ATMs and 350 Bank Agents in different parts of the country.
Officials pose for a photo after signing the agreement in Kigali
Officials pose for a photo after signing the agreement.