More than 150 players are competing in the ongoing seventh edition of the Cogebanque Tennis Open Tournament, taking place at Cercle Sportif de Kigali.
Organized by Cogebanque Plc in collaboration with CSK Tennis Club, the weeklong tournament started Friday July 7 and will run until July 15, bringing together players from various national tennis clubs across Kigali and two regional clubs from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
Clubs represented at the tournament include CSK Tennis Club, Nyarutarama Tennis Club, APR Tennis Club, Remera Tennis Club, Kanombe Tennis Club, Butare Tennis Club, Musanze Tennis Club, CIMERWA Tennis Club, as well as clubs from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
Participants will compete in five categories namely mixed doubles (amateur and professional), men's professionals, women's professionals, juniors (men and women) and wheelchair categories.
The number of players participating at Cogebanque Tennis Open continues to increase edition after edition and this year’s edition recorded the highest number of the participants from local and regional clubs.
"It's a tournament with a bigger number of participants compared to the number that we used to receive in previous editions. As usual, every year the competition has a new innovation. So this year there are teams from other neighbouring countries which is not usual,” said tournament director Eric Kabeza.
Joshua Muhire and Olive Tuyisenge will be looking to defend their title they won last year in men and women categories respectively.
READ ALSO: Muhire, Tuyisenge win Cogebanque Tennis Open
Besides providing an opportunity to network, Cogebanque Tennis Open allows participants to improve their tennis skills. The tournament attracts a diverse audience, including business executives, influential figures, and prominent entrepreneurs.
According to Cogebanque CEO Guillaume Ngamije Habarugira, sponsoring the tournament underscores the bank’s commitment to supporting sports and promoting overall health.
"We are proud to support CSK Tennis Club, as we share a common vision for the crucial role they play in advancing tennis in the local community," said Habarugira.
"Through this event, we aim to leverage the power of tennis to further enhance our presence in Rwanda and raise awareness about our banking products,” he added.
The sponsorship allows the bank to exclusively position its brand and promote its products and services to players, fans and the tennis community at large. Additionally, they seek feedback to improve the banking experience and provide seamless services to their customers.
Antoine Iyamuremye, the Head of Marketing and Product Development at Cogebanque, said that the tournament serves as a marketing platform for Cogebanque to grow.
"This tournament helps us to promote our products and services among the players and Tennis enthusiasts at large and this has been producing commendable outcomes,” he said.
The tournament officially opened Friday, July 7, with preliminary rounds while the finals will take place Saturday, July 15.
About Cogebanque
Cogebanque (Compagnie Générale de Banque Plc) is a Rwanda-based commercial bank, licensed by the National Bank of Rwanda. It started operations in 1999.
It is one of the fastest growing banks in Rwanda and today has 28 branches, over 600 agents, and 36 ATMs across the country. These are supported by Mobile banking (USSD on *505 and Mobile App "Coge mBank”), Cards (Mastercard, Smart cash & SafariBus), SchoolGEAR and internet banking delivery channels accessible through different media.
Cogebanque has been serving Rwandan industries for over 23 years with innovative services to its customers and has positively affected the Rwandan economy.
Cogebanque provides a comprehensive range of products and services targeted at corporate, SMEs and retail customers.