Bank of Kigali and CNFA enter into Partnership to Support 4230 Farmers to Improve Access to Finance worth 12 billion Rwf
The Bank of Kigali and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, (CNFA), representing USAID-funded Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Wunguke Activity, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate increased lending in agri-business, with a particular focus on the areas of agriculture and climate finance.
This partnership aims to increase farmers’ incomes through identified value chains in agriculture sector by supporting the development of relevant financial products that meet the commercial needs of the value chains while improving awareness of smallholder farmers. It also aims to support Micro Small and Medium Entreprises (MSMEs) on financial literacy; leveraging on the available guarantee facilities at the bank. The purpose is to increase lending as well as aligning the lending with existing incentives to increase the loan uptake in the agriculture value chains, supporting innovations and rural entrepreneurship in agriculture value chain. It is planned that this partnership will facilitate 4,230 farmers and agribusinesses to access 12 billion Rwf within 2 years.
“We are excited to be part of this partnership with Bank of Kigali where we plan to support and improve the capacility of agri promoters, startups, youth, women, and people with disabilities to engage in agri-business,” observed Daniel Gies, Chief of Party for Hinga Wunguke.
“This MOU will harness CNFA and BK’s expertise and cutting-edge innovative co-financing capabilities to create linkages for farmers and agri-businesses,” observed Diane Karusisi, CEO Bank of Kigali, during the signng ceremony.
This is the first partnership completed in the financial sector by the newly started Hinga Wunguke that aims to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.
Through this partnership, CNFA hopes to leverage BK’s expertise in agri-business financing to improve agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate.
CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.
CNFA co-implements USAID-funded Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Wunguke Activity that promotes increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate in 13 districts of intervention. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.