Intiti M AG A Z I N E
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How Business Partners International’s funding helps SMEs grow Since 2011, Business Partners International (BPI), a Rwandan investment fund, has been providing a wide range of financing services to mostly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to boost their growth.
BPI supports SME growth by providing financing, specialist sector knowledge and value-added services to viable SMEs, hence tackling one of their biggest challenges today, which is access to finance.
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It started with an $8 million fund that was used to invest in more than 40 Rwandan businesses, many of them owned by youth and women, who normally own few assets and can therefore not offer the security required for a loan. Many of these establishments have managed to grow significantly thanks to the support.
Jean Claude Mutajogire, the BPI Country Manager
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September 2018
Currently, a fund of $30 million is available for the East African region, which will offer even more opportunities for investment in the future. Intiti Magazine talked to Jean Claude Mutajogire, the BPI Country Manager, about the fund’s impact on Rwandan businesses.
How have you tackled some of the financing challenges SMEs faced in the past? We don’t have the same requirements concerning owner’s capital or securities that many other financiers do – capital or security are not necessarily required for an application to be accepted. The Business Partners model of financing focuses on a project’s viability. This has been crucial to removing the barrier of access to finance for viable businesses which were lacking sufficient collateral or money to secure loans from traditional lenders such as banks, in a market where most loans are collateral-based. When a business applies to us for financing, its proposal is assessed on its viability, which consists of two important elements: the entrepreneur (integrity, drive, vision, appropriate experience) and the actual business.
