CYFI Country Award |
Rwanda | Africa Lead organization: National Bank of Rwanda Program Name: “Draft of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy for Rwanda 2017-2020” Partners: Access to Finance Rwanda, Econsult Bostwana, AFI and Imani Development
INTRODUCTION Throughout 2016, the National Bank of Rwanda, together with several partners, worked on the elaboration of the draft of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy for Rwanda. The impact ambition of this program is very wide; the National Bank of Rwanda, thanks to the strategy, aims to reach a 100% financial inclusion rate of adults by 2020, but also aims to target and increase the financial inclusion rate of youth as well in collaboration with CYFI. Rwanda has previously launched a national level effort to increase the financial literacy levels of its population, with the adoption and continued implementation of the National Financial Education Strategy for 2013 - 2017. AN OUTSTANDING APPROACH The National Financial Inclusion Strategy includes a wide range of stakeholders and action areas. These action areas include, for example, Saving and Credit Groups, Digital Financial Services and other semiformal organizations providing financial services to low-income and rural households. The draft of the
National Strategy also intends to develop interoperability, allowing for payments and transfers between accounts at different types of financial institutions, a nationwide retail payments infrastructure to make use of electronic money, as well as the facility for low cost cross-border transfers.
Strategy further covers the key aspects of financial inclusion by including data collection for monitoring and evaluation. The National Bank of Rwanda will continue to work with CYFI and other stakeholders to promote the financial inclusion of children and youth in the strategy implementation phase.
The Strategy will also cover regulation, insurance and consumer protection. As part of the program, financial inclusion is paired with financial education and literacy to improve financial understanding in relation to insurance, the management of credit and fees of financial products and services, and mobile money. Thus, the program aims to ensure that regulation remains consistent with innovation and does not restrict developments that can improve financial inclusion. In the document, a focus is also placed on long term saving, particularly through the establishment of an informal sector pension’s scheme, based on Digital Financial Services. In the strategy, certain action items will target children and youth directly. The draft of the National Financial Inclusion
ACHIEVEMENTS • The percentage of households with at least one saving account increased from 36% to 54% from 2010 to 2014. • 42% of the adult population and 23% of young adults own a bank account. JUDGES’ THOUGHTS Rwanda has been recognized for the elaboration of a very thorough draft of the National Strategy of Financial Inclusion, completing the National Strategy for Financial Education. The National Strategy for Financial Education was already an outstanding advancement, and the elaborated national strategy on financial inclusion is very promising for further advancement of financial education and inclusion of the children and the youth in Rwanda.
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