Business Development Fund (BDF) has said that there are scammers who masquerade as its employees and solicit money from people with projects seeking finance from the Fund. Vincent Munyeshyaka, the BDF chief executive, revealed the scam in a talk show on the national broadcaster on Sunday evening, March 17. ALSO READ: How BDF helped Uwimana to become a model farmer BDF provides guarantees and grants to accompany the ongoing financial inclusion initiatives with a deliberate effort to target women and youth with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The fund supports small enterprises requiring up to Rwf500 million annual net capital investment. He said that the government supports between 4,500 and 5,000 projects every year for SMEs. ALSO READ: Business Development Fund set to reform financing policy for SMEs “We have to crack down on corruption and scammers seeking money from people with projects in need of financing,” he said. He said that BDF has spent over Rwf13 billion over the past eight months to support SMEs. “In May this year, we will tour the country to raise awareness about the fund and how to get rid of scammers. The scammers sit somewhere in a community, call people saying they work for BDF, and pretend to make a list of people to be supported by BDF and solicit bribes from them,” he said. He said that BDF has paid Rwf70 billion in guarantees for 15,000 projects to unlock finance from financial institutions to SMEs. “We are working with 383 SACCOs and eight banks that give loans to people who have no collateral, and BDF provides guarantees with them,” he said. ALSO READ: BDF introduces enhanced partial credit guarantee product BDF has so far supported 53,000 people with Rwf100 billion funding. The fund guarantees 50 per cent of the loan and 75 per cent for special categories such as women and youth, genocide survivors, and people with disabilities among others.
