Access to Finance Rwanda 2021-2025
This website displays open data about Swedish aid, which shows when, to whom and for what purpose Swedish aid is paid out, as well as what results it has produced. This page contains information about one of the contributions financed with Swedish aid.
Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) is a Rwandan non-profit company limited by guarantee (CLG) established with support from DFID in 2010 and with the core objective of stimulating the development of the financial sector and increasing financial inclusion by removing systemic barriers that hinder access to financial services among poor households, women and youth i...
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- B01 - Core support to NGOs, other private bodies, PPPs and research institutes
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More about the contribution
Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) is a Rwandan non-profit company limited by guarantee (CLG) established with support from DFID in 2010 and with the core objective of stimulating the development of the financial sector and increasing financial inclusion by removing systemic barriers that hinder access to financial services among poor households, women and youth in Rwanda. The Swedish contribution supports implementation of Access to Finance Rwanda’s strategy for the period 2021 – 2025. Access to Finance Rwanda’s overarching strategy goal is to support a financial sector that delivers real value to poor people and marginalized groups, including women, youth and refugees, by increasing access and usage of appropriate and affordable financial services, while at the same time contributing to unlock more inclusive growth patterns across the economy, generating economic opportunities for millions of Rwandans, particularly among poor households. The intervention will be implemented in close collaboration with private sector actors, the government of Rwanda and other non-profit organizations.
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Total aid 89,000,000 SEK distributed on 0 activities
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Result
The result examples below come primarily from the AFR external Mid-Term Review carried out in the spring 2024: - AFR has played a key role in supporting the design and operationalisation of the Rwanda National Digital Payments System (RNDPS), an interoperable payments system that is set to transform the financial sector in Rwanda. Recognising the limitations of the current payments system and its indirect impacts on competition and efficiency, AFR is working with key financial sector stakeholders on a fully interoperable digital payments platform (RNDPS). The first use case, People-2-People (eKash) was launched in Sept 2023 with MTN and Airtel, two micro-finance institutions and five banks. Currently all 16 banks have joined the scheme showing market buy-in and wider system-level impacts. The latest data shows eKash has been used by nearly 600,000 people (approximately 21% female; 43% low-income) and is bringing particular value to rural and low-income populations, reducing travel cost and time to transfer money. The MTR found strong consensus across the market that RNDPS is going to be transformational by enabling increased competition and innovation, reducing costs, and data analytics for improved credit-scoring, policymaking, and service offering, among other. - The data analytics project has also demonstrated promising early results and catalysed significant co-investment in several financial sector partners. The MTR found evidence of changes in the use of data in the partner organizations, as well as increased investment in in-house data analytics capabilities. For example, Rwanda Bankers Association has established a new research department and will publish its first Industry Status Report in 2024. Bank of Kigali has already co-invested $700.000 in capex alone and currently employs 15 people in the new data management department. The above points to high buy-in and good prospects for sustainability and system-wide impacts from this initiative. - FinScope 2024 was published and for the first-time significant co-investment was catalysed from market actors and public sector. The launch attracted significant interest and high-level participation from both public and private-sector reflecting AFRs convening capabilities. For increased sustainability and impact AFR has worked closely with NISR and BNR on data collection and analysis and included a capacity building component for local stakeholders. - The SACCO automation project has delivered significant benefits for participating SACCOs and their customers but appears not to be sustainable or scalelable in its current form. Benefits delivered by the project include significant efficiency gains and improved service delivery among SACCOs leading to increase in number of customers and credit to SACCO members, as well as reduction in interest rates from 24% to 20% for agriculture and to 18% for business loans. SACCO automation has also delivered benefits to users (consisting primarily of low-income households and farmers) by reducing travel time and improving service delivery. These impacts are significant, but concerns remain on the sustainability and scalability of this initiative. - The Agriculture Finance, Financial Education and FinTech Strategies were developed by Government with AFR support. The agriculture finance strategy has been fully approved while the financial education and fintech strategies are close to full approval. AFR provided key support in the form of analytical input, stakeholder engagement and industry-wide consultation. - The MTR also found that the support provided by AFR is highly rated by partners. Evidence from the partner survey suggests that AFR is generally effective in catalyzing practice change in partners, but in some cases, additionality appears weaker. In the AFR partner survey the delivery of support, responsiveness of support, and communications and oversight were highly rated, and AFR appears to be flexible and adaptive in the modality of support it provides. Responses also suggest that AFR support is effective in changing the capabilities and motivations in partner organisations, which in turn is leading to significant change in organisational practices.
The overarching objective of the intervention is to contribute to a financial system that delivers real value to the Rwandan economy and people, in particular marginalized populations, by supporting and enabling people and businesses to create value for themselves and the economy. The key impact objectives are: Increased resilience: People and businesses are better able to prepare for uncertainty, manage shocks when they occur and recuperate afterwards. Capturing opportunity: People and businesses are better able to capture opportunities, increase their capacities and create employment for others.
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