BCR to fund coffee farmers

The commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR) has pledged to continue funding farmers in the coffee sector this year as a way of expanding their investment. The bank says that it has, in the last three months, received more than six loan applications from coffee farmers. The total loan applications are worth Rwf1.5 billion so far and the bank plans to disburse between Rwf1.5 billion to Rwf4 billion in the coffee sector. “We are financing the coffee sector just like we do with other projects but coffee is more significant to the Rwandan economy,” said Hannington Namara, BCR’s head of corporate banking. Namara also emphasized that the success of the applicants will depend on the quality of the farmer’s business plan. “We look at the quality of their applications and if they are good and viable as well as profitable, then we go ahead to finance them,” explained Namara The bank is also planning key initiatives in various fields for this year which include a selective and controlled growth of the loan book across all customer segments, relaunching of retail business with focus on the customers’ employees, expansion of the capital markets products like handling initial public issues and debt syndications. Ends

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BCR to fund coffee farmers