Rwanda plans to privatise development bank

File photo: Rodrique Ngowi

File photo: Rodrique Ngowi

Published Apr 5, 2014

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Kigali - Rwanda plans to privatise Development Bank of Rwanda (BDR), the latest of several state sell-offs in recent years, saying on Saturday the move was aimed at improving the bank's performance.

The government, which wants to build a regional financial hub in Rwanda, has sold stakes it held in other commercial banks, including 45 percent of Bank of Kigali, via a stock market flotation in 2011.

“The Government of Rwanda plans to privatise the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) in a move to reform its operation and ensure that the bank effectively serves its mandate,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement, adding that more details would be released on Sunday.

It did not give any details about the sale of the bank, whose shareholders also include local and private institutions, along with development bodies from France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Last month, shareholders of BRD, short for the French version of its name Banque Rwandaise de Développement, appointed Francis Mugisha as chairman, after his predecessor moved to a new position in Kenya.

It said Mugisha would “oversee the next phase of the bank's mandate of financing private sector investments aimed at poverty reduction.” - Reuters

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