Our History
Our company was founded
Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD), is a Public Company Limited by Shares, with a share capital of RWF 57,808,931,000, registered at the Officer of the Registrar General, whose company code n° 100003547.
The Bank was incorporated on August 5, 1967; however, its incorporation certificate was issued on 7/7/2011 while a banking license n°003 was issued by the National Bank of Rwanda on August 11, 2009.
For more than four decades, BRD has been the sole provider of long term finance and has significantly facilitated the emergence of different productive enterprises in the private sector.
Merger of BAS and BDF
Since March 2011, BRD Advisory Services (BAS Ltd) and BRD Development Fund (BDF Ltd) companies were merged to form a new company called BDF Ltd.
The two former companies were BRD wholly owned subsidiaries tasked with the mission of providing services and products that boost the development of SME’s in Rwanda. The new company remained subsidiary to BRD and streamlined the previous mission.
The merger was decided by the BRD Board of Directors meeting held on 17th March 2011 with the aim of improving the efficiency of operations, the quality, the range of services and products to be provided by the new company, BDF Ltd.
Acquisition of BHR
On the 26th April 2011, BRD officially acquired Banque de l’Habitat du Rwanda (BHR) in a ceremony hosted by Honorable Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. John RWANGOMBWA.
The objective of this acquisition was to achieve sustainable growth by making BRD a stronger and better positioned bank which provided long-term loans, housing loans, mortgage re-financing and other financial services aimed at improving access to finance in Rwanda.
The takeover of BHR gave BRD an asset base of over Rwf 72 Billion (Rwf58 Billion of BRD and Rwf 14 Billion from BHR).
Growth and Innovation phase
This phase ensues from the necessity for the Bank to contribute to the recapitalization and the monetization of the rural area, in the increase of the export against of challenges of the Rwandan Economy imposed by the needs of fast and long-lasting growth to fight poverty. In fact more than 90 % of the population lives in the rural area and mainly on agriculture.
In order to enhance the Bank mission of development, in 2005 the Government of Rwanda mandated BRD with a mission to become the “Financier” of Rwanda’s development. Since then BRD has been transforming itself in order to be able to play its crucial role in Rwanda’s development. BRD 2005-2009 Strategic Operating Plan translates BRD mission and vision to become the most profitable bank at the service of poverty reduction.
This big and important role involves a more aggressive approach in the research for the profitable projects and in the creation of new instruments of financing which can serve large number of Rwandese. To do that, the Bank created two additional instruments to diversify its activities and generate products necessary to balance the level of its profitability. These new products concern:
A Microfinance Department and a Leasing Unit opened respectively in 2002 and in 2007.
Due to the BRD 2005 -2009 strategic Operating Plan, the Bank plans to inject Rwf 132 billion in to the Rwandan economy over 2005-2009 and attain a total loan portfolio of Rwf 74 billion by 2009.
Post-Genocide phase
After the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, there were catastrophic results that followed and the bank continues to shoulder a burden of more than 50% of its portfolio constituting non- performing loans consequential from the 1994 genocide.
An amount of loans totaling Rwf6.8 billion, 115 operations; Rwf6.7 billion in 112 lines of credit; Rwf156.4 million in equity shares in 3 productive ventures. The loans were mainly invested in modernization and rehabilitation of ventures to the tune of Rwf13.4 billions, creating an employment of 8,923 people and an added value to the economy of about Rwf8 billion.
The war paralyzed the rural areas and revitalization of the activities after 1994 concentrated in the capital city mainly in the secondary and tertiary sectors. This period was a reorganization and consolidation phase.
Maturity phase
During this period, the Bank disbursed loans totaling: Rwf4. 6 billion in 873 lines of credit; Rwf84.5 million in equity shares in 7 productive ventures. It generated an investment volume of Rwf15.7 billion with a creation of employment for 9,094 people and value added to the economy of Rwf8, 5 billion.
The priority areas for the loans were agro-industries mainly the sectors of tea and manufacturing, enabled by low cost financial resources available to small and medium scale enterprises in agribusiness; artisans and micro- projects
Establishment and development phase
During the years 1968 to 1970, the Bank was being established and no projects were financed.
In the four years that followed, the Bank recorded major loans on vehicles (pick-ups) and grinding mills. The financing of the vehicles extended all over the country and marked a crucial step towards improving accessibility of goods in the country.
Effective from 1974, the bank embarked on aggressive financing of different sectors of the economy.
An amount of loans totaling Rwf6.6 billion has since been extended to 501 operations, Rwf317 million invested in equity shares with 23 companies, and Rwf6.3 billion in loans to 478 borrowers. This meant an investment impact of about Rwf12.6 billion with a creation of employment opportunities for 8,400 people and cumulative added value of Rwf25.2 billion.
The bank has financed about 80% of the country’s medium and long term loan portfolio in the productive ventures.