Central Bank approves ‘Diaspora Mutual Fund’

KIGALI - The Governor of the Central Bank (BNR), Francois Kanimba, has officially approved the Rwanda Diaspora Mutual Fund and licensed it to operate. The fund is an investment initiative of the Rwandan Diaspora which will pool investments from Rwandans in the Diaspora for collective investments in the country. The approval of fund was announced at the just concluded fourth Rwandan Diaspora Global Convention. “The fund will mobilize the Rwandan Diaspora to invest in their homeland, contribute with their financial resources to the national development by building wealth and leaving a legacy to future generations,” a statement by the bank read. Before the final approval, the Fund’s promotional team had earlier registered as a company with the Rwanda Commercial Registration Services Agency under the Rwanda Development Board and secured a provisional license from the National Bank of Rwanda. Membership is open to everyone. “The Fund intends to invest in high quality, short-term (one year or less) debt securities, such as government’s treasury bills, Government guaranteed notes, through the National Bank of Rwanda, bankers acceptances, asset-backed commercial papers and commercial papers issued by Rwandan licensed banks, loan companies, trust companies and corporations,” reads the statement. The Fund has already appointed a Fund Manager, a Custodian (Bank of Kigali), Trustees, an Auditing company and a Legal counsel as required by the National Bank. Ends