Seventy-two per cent of Rwandan adults (about 3.2 million) have or use financial products, with 57.5 per cent informally served, a new report indicates.According to the report by South Africa-based FinScope, 1.3 million Rwandans are currently financially excluded.In 2008, fifty-two per cent of adults were financially excluded. FinMark Trust initiative is a nationally representative study of consumers’ perceptions on financial services and issues, which creates an insight to how consumers source their income and manage their financial lives.This study, commissioned by the government of Rwanda and implemented by Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), sought to provide a holistic understanding of how individuals generate income and how they manage their financial lives.It attributes the increase to new banks entering the market, increased outreach of existing banks and introduction of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) at the sector level, which helped more Rwandans to access formal financial services. More than 90 per cent of adult Rwandans live within a 5km radius of a formal financial institution, it says.The establishment of Umurenge SACCOs has significantly changed the trend of access to formal financial services in Rwanda, the study adds.But the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, John Rwangombwa, played down the significance of the findings, saying what mattered most was how these financial services impacted lives.“Yes access increased but it is not enough, how the products benefit and improve lives is the issue,” he said yesterday.There has been a significant growth in the banking sector since 2008.The banked population increased from 14 per cent of adults in 2008 to 23 per cent (1 million) in 2012.According to the study, the unbanked population said that the major reason driving them to be excluded was lack of awareness on the products and how they improve their lives. “This finding indicates that progress has been made in terms of establishing a savings culture amongst Rwandans,” a statement from the Ministry of Finance reads.The savings culture, the survey indicates, increased to 68 per cent, up from 54 per cent in 2008.Access to financial services is key to mobilising resources and enhancing the savings culture, thus contributing to inclusive growth, according to experts.Recently, the Director General of National Agricultural Export Board, Alex Kanyankole, said that the microfinance sector had significantly helped rural communities, especially farmers, to purchase agriculture inputs and other tools to boost production through small loans.“Because of this, production per tree has doubled and we have seen farmers replacing old trees,” Kanyankole noted.Jeremie Iyakaremye, a farmer and head of a coffee farmers’ federation in Kirehe district, says that through Saccos and microfinance institutions, farmers have managed to save and improve their farms.“I channel the salary (Rwf50, 000) of my employee to a Sacco and because of this, he has managed to acquire small loans to buy fertilisers or anything that could help improve his livelihood,” he explains.According Iyakaremye, many farmers show willingness to save unlike in the past when they were hesitant to embrace the initiative.“In brief, it came as a solution to integrate the poor in the system and allow them to benefit from the expansion in economic activities, trading and wealth creation,” he said. The government seeks to extend financial services to at least 80 per cent of the population by 2017. The study was jointly financed by United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), World Bank and the Government of Rwanda.
