I.1.2 BANQUES POPULAIRES IN RWANDA
In Rwanda, the idea of saving and credit by rural population was
started from independence.In 1963, «caisse d'épargne du
Rwanda» was created and its main objective was to offer means of saving
and credit by rural population and particularly to farmers. In 1968, it was
reported that the caisse d'épargne du Rwanda failed to achieve its
objectives. For that reason, the government of Rwanda asked France, Switzerland
and Canada technical and financial assistance to create a financial institution
capable of granting credit and keeping savings of rural population, in 1973,
the government of Rwanda and Switzerland signed an agreement to start the
project of saving and credit for rural development. In the same year, four
Rwandans went for training in the Swiss cooperatives of saving and credit
called «Caisse RAIFFEISENNS WISSES». After the training, they come
back and put in practice the knowledge they acquired from the training
(www.ubpr.com.).
The first Banque Populaire in Rwanda was opened officially at
Nkamba on 4th august 1975 in Kabarondo the former Kibungo province
now the Eastern Province. From that year, Banques populaires expanded at
significant rate and by December 31, 2006 there were 148 banques populaires in
the whole country. In Rwanda the saving and credit cooperatives are called
Banques populaires. They were supervised by the state through an institution
called «orientation bureau».
The orientation bureau exercised the following functions;
v To serve as the central bank for managing the deposits of all
Banques populaires;
v To execute the control of operations;
v To prepare accounting materials and Books for all Banques
populaires in the country;
v To train staff for those banks;
In 1968, the orientation bureau was replaced by Union des Banques
populaires du Rwanda (UBPR). Banques Populaires in Rwanda did not distribute
the benefits to their members. The annual benefits were affected in the reserve
fund, which constituted the guarantee for their creditors and for their members
and expand investments such as acquisitions of equipment and placement
buildings.
I.1.3 KEY DATES IN BANQUES POPULAIRES HISTORY
1975: Inception of the first Banque populaire
of NKAMBA in Kibungo, Eastern province. This was followed by the establishment
of many others around the country.
1986: The various autonomous Banques
Populaires du Rwanda formed an umbrella called Union des Banques Populaires du
Rwanda (UBPR) with a cooperative mission.
January 2008: Basing on its strong experience
of 33 years in the Rwandan financial sector, UBPR was transformed from a
cooperative Bank into a commercial bank «Banque Populaire du Rwanda
S.A». (www.bpr.rw)
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