The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) through the Swedish embassy in Kigali has signed a grant to support financial inclusion and enhancing livelihood opportunities for low income people, especially women, through Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR).
The grant agreement is worth SEK 25 million (USD 2.9 million), part of Phase II of AFR activities. AFR has also received funding from Dfid, Kfw and the World Bank.
With the fund, AFR is expected to increase the supply and utilization of appropriate and affordable financial services available to the low income bracket of the Rwanda population, targeting 1,440,000 beneficiaries of who 826,500 are women.
“Sweden is committed to supporting inclusive economic development in Rwanda, and the cooperation with AFR will offer a good window of opportunity to work with different actors to achieve the development results. The specific targets of having 60 percent of the beneficiaries as women are well in line with our work on women’s economic empowerment and a way to put the Swedish gender foreign policy into action,” says Maria Håkansson, chargé d’Affaires at the Swedish Embassy.
“AFR recognizes that financial services need to be tailored to the needs of the low income households so that poor people can actively contribute and benefit from Rwanda’s economic development. We work with SACCOs, commercial banks, microfinance institutions, insurance companies, mobile network operators and the Government of Rwanda to promote the development of a diverse and inclusive financial market in Rwanda,” says Judith AgugaAcon, Technical Director at AFR.
Productive employment and improved living conditions for the poor are key priorities for the Swedish development cooperation with Rwanda.
Access to financial services, such as savings, loans, insurance, and pensions are important prerequisites for the economy to grow – and for the low income households to start and grow their business. Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) has a goal to contribute to increased financial inclusion and enhance livelihood opportunities for poor women and men.
As the goals of AFR and the Swedish development cooperation are well aligned, Sweden signs a grant agreement to support AFR for their upcoming activities during 2016-2020.
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