Equity Bank Rwanda PLC and Financial Sector Deepening (FSD Africa), on May 31, launched a programme dubbed Financial Inclusion for Refugees (FI4R) that aims to provide financial services to over 90,000 refugees in Rwanda.
The project was officially launched in Mahama Refugee Camp in Kirehe District, Eastern Province. The camp is the largest in Rwanda, hosting over 47,000 refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and several other neighbouring countries.
Through this programme, refugees will be able to access mobile banking and agency banking services such as opening accounts, receiving and sending money, saving, accessing digital loans, insurance and others through unstructured service data (USSD) channels.
(L-R) Representatives from National Bank of Rwanda, Equity Bank Rwanda, FSD Africa, Access To Finance Rwanda pose for a photo during the event at Mahama refugee camp in Kirehe District.
The project will also provide financial literacy trainings to equip refugees with knowledge on how to manage their finances.
Speaking at the launch event, Diana Mukundwa, the Head of Investment and Social Impact at Equity Bank Rwanda said: "As a bank, we believe in easing access to financial services as a vehicle to transforming livelihoods across Africa. Through this project, we will be able to impact more lives in a sustainable way that will start their journey towards financial independence.”
The need to extend financial services to vulnerable groups like refugees cannot be understated, she added. With easier access to financial services and knowledge of how to manage their personal and business finances, refugees across Rwanda will be able to transact safely and with ease.
Kuria Wanjau, Program Manager Digital Economy at FSD Africa speaks at the launch of a programme dubbed Financial Inclusion for Refugees (FI4R) that aims to provide financial services to over 90,000 refugees in Rwanda.
Access to and usage of financial services can allow low-income households, including refugees, to build assets, mitigate shocks, increase resilience, and contribute to the local economy.
The FI4R project builds on earlier work funded by FSD Africa and Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) in partnership with UNHCR following a market assessment done by BFA Global that outlined refugees’ financial needs and provided a business case for financial institutions to serve them.
Kimenyi Valens -,the Director Financial Sector Development at the Central Bank (BNR) addresses the event to launch a programme dubbed Financial Inclusion for Refugees (FI4R) that aims to provide financial services to over 90,000 refugees in Rwanda.
It also identified barriers refugees face when accessing financial services and offered solutions to overcoming them.
Kuria Wanjau, Programme Manager for Fragile Communities and States at FSD Africa, said: "Refugees have financial and other needs like everybody else. It is therefore imperative for the financial sector to serve them just as they would anybody else. Refugees are engaged in economic activities, have incomes and spend; the financial system should facilitate such activities”
FSD Africa is a specialist development agency working to reduce poverty by strengthening financial markets across sub-Saharan Africa. Based in Nairobi, FSD Africa’s team of financial sector experts work alongside governments, business leaders, regulators and policy makers to design and build ambitious programmes that make finance work for Africa’s future.
Established in 2012, FSD Africa is incorporated as a non-profit company limited by guarantee in Kenya. It is funded by UK aid from the UK government.
Equity Bank Rwanda began its operations in 2011 and is registered as a commercial bank by the National Bank of Rwanda. The Bank has its Head Office located in Kigali, with a footprint of 16 branches and is supported by over 3500 agents and a network of 24 ATMs.
Dianah Mukundwa, Head of Investment and social impact at Equity Bank Rwanda says that the bank believes in easing access to financial services as a vehicle to transforming livelihoods across Africa
Equity Bank Rwanda is a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc, a financial services company listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock Exchange.
In addition to Equity Bank Rwanda, the Group has banking subsidiaries in Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, and a Commercial Representative Office in Ethiopia; with additional non-banking subsidiaries engaged in the provision of investment banking, custodial, insurance agency, philanthropy, consulting, and infrastructure services.