Bank of Kigali (BK) and Business Development Fund (BDF), a government-backed initiative that provides financial support to small businesses, on Wednesday, December 27, signed a partial credit fund agreement to lend to more clients.

According to Diane Karusisi, the BK chief executive, BDF will provide a partial guarantee of up to 50 per cent or more, to especially micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to enable them to have access to credit at an affordable rate.

Karusisi stressed that the partial credit fund is aimed at solving issues that most of BK's clients in the MSEs segment face, one of which is inadequate access to finance due to lack of collateral.

"We believe that this agreement will support our ambitions to grow our businesses into MSEs," Karusisi said.

Vincent Munyeshyaka, the BDF chief executive, said the partial credit fund will cover 50 to75 per cent of the loan received from the bank as a coverage rate by BDF to support SMEs' development.

"We have a budget of around Rwf30 billion and are exercising individual guarantee. It is a quick-win action plan that we would love to continue in this spirit."

In the long term, starting January 2024, BDF will have a technical adviser from the World Bank to help design a portfolio guarantee intended to reach agreement with banks, rather than individual customers.

"We will decide the money we want to be covered and set performance criteria like the level of non-performing loan book. The purpose of the portfolio guarantee is for BDF to avoid risk assessment," Munyeshyaka said.

By offering this service, BDF will receive a credit guarantee commission fee that ranges between 1 to 2 per cent of the amount covered by BDF on individual customers.

For a long time, BK and BDF have been partners and look forward to fortifying their rapport to develop more businesses through affordable loans.