BRD is Africa’s 7th best development financial institution

The Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) was yesterday named seventh African development financial institution of 2013.The ranking follows BRD’s regular support to the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This was during the Annual Forum for CEOs in the Association of African Development Banking and Finance Institutions (AADFI), hosted in Kenya. The review focused on 14 member institutions selected on the basis of how regular or irregular their participation is; where BRD, which is by a majority shares owned by the government, emerged with a score of 89 per cent. The Director of Finance at BRD, Emmanuel Murangayisa, received the honours during the forum, and pledged the bank’s continued support to business growth in Rwanda, according to a statement received by The New Times from AADFI. “BRD over the last 46 years of existence has contributed to the creation and sustainability of SMEs,” Murangayisa said. “As a consequence of the portfolio growth, the profitability over the years went up. Although the period between 1985 and 1994 was marked by continuous losses, the bank finally picked up by getting out of the losses in 1995 and has since been making positive strides.” He said as a result of to the overall great performance , BRD’s net worth automatically shot higher in the past eight years. “The loans and equity participations are extended to various priority sectors of the Rwandan economy and they are directly linked to the overall growth of the Bank,” Murangayisa said. Gabriel Negatu, the regional director of the African Development Bank, said the growth and changes in Africa are notably positive and urged finance institutions to continue supporting business on the continent. “The growth rate of the continent’s low-income countries was well above 4.5 per cent in 2012 and is projected to remain above 5.5 per cent in the coming years. Governments should further support their national development financial institutions in the pursuit of their efficiency and prudence,” Negatu said. The top five rated institutions included African Export and Import Bank (Egypt), East African Development Bank, Credit Agricole du Maroc (Morocco), Odu’a Investment Company (Nigeria), and Banque Nationale pour le Developpement Economique, of Senegal.