afrol News, 13 June - The Dutch bank Rabobank Group today announced it had acquired a 35 percent interest in the private Banque Populaire du Rwanda. Radobank has pledged to invest into its Rwandan partner to evolve it "into a fully fledged, financially sustainable retail bank with a rural orientation."

Following several rounds of successful negotiations, Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) and Rabo Development yesterday signed a number of agreements that will give the Dutch food and agribusiness bank Rabobank a 35 percent interest in BPR.

BPR, established in 1975, is Rwanda's leading retail bank with a nationwide network of approximately 130 branches and outlets throughout the country. BPR recently changed from a cooperative to a corporate structure, but has retained a widespread shareholder base of clients from throughout the country. The bank is unique in that over 600,000 client-shareholders jointly own the 65 percent majority of the bank.

The Dutch-Rwandan deal is basically channeled through the so-called "Rabo Development initiative", which started four years ago. Rabo Development's mission is to help financial institutions in developing countries evolve into fully fledged, financially sustainable retail banks with a rural orientation.

As part of this initiative, it acquires a minority interest in the capital of the partner bank and assigns senior Rabobank managers to the board and the management team, who work closely with local managers. Under the scheme, Rabobank also provides comprehensive technical assistance, allowing it to share its expertise with the partner bank.

Although Rabo Development is the strategic and largest shareholder in most of its ventures, it does not acquire a majority interest, as it wants the partner banks to remain largely locally owned. A good relationship with the local stakeholders and agreement on the mission and strategy of the bank are said to be "key ingredients for the partnership". Developing a strong, nationwide branch network and providing rural access to finance are crucial elements of this approach.

BPR will be Rabo Development's sixth partner bank following earlier partnerships in Tanzania (National Microfinance Bank), China (United Rural Co-operative Bank of Hangzhou), Zambia (Zambia National Commercial Bank), Mozambique (Banco Terra) and Paraguay (Banco Regional).

According to a Radobank statement, "the partnership with BPR is very special considering our mutual cooperative roots and the many similarities between our organisations."

"We are impressed by what BPR has already achieved in the recent past," Arnold Kuijpers, Managing Director of Rabo Development, commented. "The commitment of the Board of BPR and the support of the Central Bank to accommodate our partnership have been equally impressive."

Manasse Twahirwa, Chairman of the board of BPR, added that "We consider it an excellent opportunity to partner with Rabobank in order to make substantial progress in developing the Banque Populaire du Rwanda in the years to come."

According to a Radobank, the Dutch Embassy in Kigali is showing its support for the partnership by "making a substantial contribution towards the technical assistance costs."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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