The first cohort of Bank of Kigali's entry level training programme graduated on Thursday, November 17 after completing a three-month intensive training in banking.

The cohort of 25 was selected from best performing university graduates from various fields, such as finance, accounting, business and information technology, among others.

BK Academy’s initiative trains them to become part of the bank’s family.

At the graduation ceremony held in Kigali, BK’s management said the newly trained cohort would contribute to the bank’s long-term goals.

"We are happy to see this initiative come to fruition with 25 young, brilliant people who have gone through an intense training programme,” said Diane Karusisi, BK’s Chief Executive.

"They have learnt the ambitions of the bank, its culture, how we do our business, what makes the banking sector, as well as hard and soft skills; and they will be deployed into different departments. We see them as future leaders of Bank of Kigali.”

The graduates were excited to complete the training and said they gained new skills and knowledge that will enable them to succeed in their careers.

"It wasn’t an easy journey, none of us thought that we would make it but here we are. At the BK academy we acquired technical and soft banking skills. We can’t wait to join BK and play our part in financially transforming lives,” Divine Ineza, one of the graduates, said.

After the training, Joshua Ngarambe said he was looking forward to joining BK’s pool of employees.

"I am very much prepared and ready to face new challenges. I have learnt a lot: emotional intelligence, team-building, teamwork, and of course some theoretical material at BK has been given,” Ngarambe said.

Every year, BK Academy’s entry level training programme will be training new graduates before they join the bank’s larger team.

Besides the entry level programme, BK Academy trains its employees for improvement and advancement of their professional capacity.