Event Name: The MasterCard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion
Event Dates: October 20-21, 2016
Event Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Search Results for: Rwanda
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ericsson, Rwandan Government to Launch “Rwanda Interconnect Switch” Linking Microfinance Institutions, Banks
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson), a Swedish communications technology and services corporation, recently announced that it has signed an agreement with the Rwandan Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to launch a national interoperability switch, known as the Rwanda Interconnect Switch (RIS), which is expected to be operational by early 2017.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Safaricom, MTN Rwanda Partner to Enable Transactions Between Kenya’s M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money
Safaricom, a Kenya-based telecommunications company, recently has partnered with MTN Rwanda, the Rwandan branch of South Africa-based multinational telecommunications provider Mobile Telecommunications Network Group (MTN), to enable cross-border transactions.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda’s First Lady, Jeannette Kagame; NGO New Faces New Voices Launch $20m Initiative to Financially Empower Women
Jeannette Kagame, the wife of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, recently launched a campaign that aims to financially empower women in the country.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Kigali, Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Rwanda to Offer Mobile Financial Services
Bank of Kigali, a Rwandan commercial bank, and the Rwandan branch of Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN), a South Africa-based internet and telecommunications company, recently entered into a partnership that will allow MTN subscribers who are also customers of Bank of Kigali to transfer funds between their Bank of Kigali accounts and MTN’s mobile payments platform, Mobile Money.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Millicom International Cellular, Urwego Opportunity Bank Launch Tigo Sugira Mobile Savings in Rwanda
Millicom International Cellular, a Luxembourg-based telecommunications and media company, recently launched the mobile-based savings product Tigo Sugira in Rwanda with Urwego Opportunity Bank, a Rwandan microfinance institution [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda Expanding One Area Network Agreement to Allow Cross-Border Mobile Money Transfers
The governments of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, which established One Area Network Agreement (OANA) in January to improve cross-border telecommunications, are seeking to expand its scope to allow mobile money transfers among the countries.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN), Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW) Launch $4m Microfinance Challenge Fund to Support Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda (MINECOFIN), the Rwandan government’s authority on finance; Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), a Kigali-based investment company that promotes financial inclusion in Rwanda; and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a German development bank, recently have launched the Microfinance Challenge Fund Rwanda (MCFR), which will deploy EUR 3 million (USD 3.98 million) as loans to support microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Rwanda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microbanks Share Software Through Association of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Rwanda
The Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), a group of 62 member microfinance institutions (MFIs), is implementing a computer system to help its members improve their microfinance operations.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Rwanda, Kenya Commercial Bank Group (KCB), Kenya’s I&M Bank, Rwanda’s RSwitch to Offer Cardless ATM Banking Services in Rwanda
Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Rwanda, the Rwandan branch of South Africa-based mobile telecommunications company MTN, reportedly has announced a partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank Group (KCB) and I&M Bank, which both offer corporate and retail banking services in Kenya, and RSwitch, an electronic payment service firm based in Rwanda, to offer cardless automated teller machine (ATM) services in Rwanda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Signs Deals with AB Bank Rwanda, IHS Holding of Nigeria, Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda to Expand Microfinance, Telecommunications
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, reportedly has signed deals with AB Bank Rwanda (ABR), a microfinance bank (MFB) affiliated with Access Microfinance Holding of Germany; IHS Holding Limited, a mobile services infrastructure company based in Nigeria that operates in five African countries; and Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a foreign-owned Rwandan MFB, in an effort to increase access to telecommunications and financial opportunities in Rwanda.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Commits Support Worth $300k to Back Newly Licensed AB Bank Rwanda, 8th Member of Access Microfinance Holding
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, has announced a deal worth USD 300,000 to support AB Bank Rwanda Limited, which was licensed in December 2013 to operate as a microfinance bank (MFB)[1][2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) Maintains Repurchase (Repo) Rate at 7%
The National Bank of Rwanda, which is known by its French acronym BNR, has announced that it will maintain the key repurchase (repo) rate, the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the central bank, at 7 percent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tigo Introduces Cross-border Mobile Money Transfer Service With Currency Conversion Serving Rwanda, Tanzania
Millicom International Cellular, a Luxembourg-based telecommunications company also known as Tigo, recently introduced a cross-border mobile money transfer service between Rwanda and Tanzania that includes currency conversion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Index Insurance Facility to Donate $4m to Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the US-based World Bank Group’s private investment arm, has approved two grants totaling USD 3.9 million to Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, a Swiss nonprofit organization, to provide index-based weather insurance to rural farmers in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda Receives $514k from Development Bank of Austria, “Partnership for Financial Inclusion” of International Finance Corporation (IFC), MasterCard Foundation
The Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Rwanda, will receive a donation of USD 514,000 from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group, and the Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB), Austria’s development bank, to support the provision of financial services – including mobile services – particularly to women and small-scale enterprises [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali Announces New ‘mVisa’ Mobile Banking Service
The Bank of Kigali (BK), a commercial bank based in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, reportedly has announced the development of a new mobile banking product, ‘mVisa’, that is expected to allow rural populations to gain access to banking services that historically have been inaccessible to rural Rwandans. According to a statement attributed to Lawson Naibo, the chief operations officer of BK, the service will aim to allow rural clients to easily access their bank account through their mobile phone and encourage higher banking participation rates in rural Rwandan communities where bank branches are often not present.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), Child Savings International (Aflatoun), United Kingdom’s Department for International Development Inaugurate Youth Educational Program in Rwanda
The Association of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda (AMIR), an umbrella organization for Rwandan microfinance institutions (MFIs) and related organizations, recently partnered with Child Savings International (referred to as Aflatoun), a Netherlands-based nonprofit, and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (UKDID) to launch an educational program in Rwanda that will teach entrepreneurial, savings and financial skills to youth.