{"id":55222,"date":"2025-08-13T13:26:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T13:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/81-of-rwandans-feel-financially-hopeful-despite-economic-pressures-survey\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T09:56:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T09:56:03","slug":"81-of-rwandans-feel-financially-hopeful-despite-economic-pressures-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/81-of-rwandans-feel-financially-hopeful-despite-economic-pressures-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"81% of Rwandans feel financially hopeful despite economic pressures – Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a report released on Wednesday, August 13, the survey found that 81% of respondents felt financially hopeful in the second quarter, buoyed by 7.8% GDP growth in the first quarter and government measures to strengthen key industries.<\/p>\n

Thirty-eight percent reported household income growth in the past three months, five percentage points higher than a year ago, while 37% said their finances were better than expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cRwandan consumers are demonstrating remarkable resilience and optimism in the face of economic challenges. The strong sense of financial hope reflects a broader national momentum toward inclusive growth,” said Thabo Molefe, head of Africa regions, TransUnion.<\/p>\n

{{Financial pressure persists
\n}}<\/p>\n

According to the survey, job losses were the most common setback, affecting 29% of households. In addition, 20% reported wage cuts, 14% had reduced working hours, and 12% saw a household business close or lose orders.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, 51% expect to miss at least one bill or loan payment in the next three months. To manage, 39% plan to make partial payments, 39% intend to take on gig work, and 39% will use money from savings.<\/p>\n

{{Shifts in spending
\n}}<\/p>\n

Consumer behaviour suggests cautious spending growth. Thirty-eight percent expect to increase discretionary spending in the next quarter, compared with 30% who expect to cut back. Rising costs are anticipated for medical services (45%) and digital services (42%).<\/p>\n

The survey also highlights gaps in credit access. Almost all respondents (99%) said access to credit is important, but only 41% felt they had enough access. Over half (55%) plan to apply for new or refinanced credit within the next year, with personal loans (46%), student loans (26%), and home loans (23%) as the most common goals.<\/p>\n

However, 49% abandoned credit applications, mainly due to high borrowing costs (27%), concerns about income or employment (22%), and lengthy application processes (19%).<\/p>\n

{{Fraud concerns
\n}}<\/p>\n

More than half (58%) of respondents reported being targeted by fraud in Q2, with high-income consumers reporting the highest rate (59%). The most common scams were gift card fraud (49%), phishing (31%), and vishing (28%).<\/p>\n

Cybersecurity risks remain a barrier to digital adoption, with 37% citing online threats and 30% worried about identity theft. While 72% have access to their credit information, concerns over privacy invasion (63%) and identity theft (59%) are widespread.<\/p>\n

Molefe said improving access to credit and building trust in digital platforms will be critical to sustaining consumer confidence.<\/p>\n

“As access to credit and digital trust become increasingly vital, it\u2019s clear that empowering consumers with the right tools and protections will be key to sustaining this positive trajectory.”<\/p>\n

TransUnion is a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries, including Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, eSwatini, and Zambia.<\/p>\n

The latest findings are based on TransUnion\u2019s Consumer Pulse Survey of 345 adults, conducted between 5 and 25 May 2025 in partnership with third-party research provider Dynata. The survey targeted Rwandan residents aged 18 and above, using an online research panel accessed via desktop, mobile, and tablet devices.<\/p>\n

\"Most<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most Rwandans are optimistic about their financial future despite ongoing economic pressures, according to TransUnion\u2019s Q2 2025 Consumer Pulse Study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000092554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000092554,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/01-ec1a2481-34714-2.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/01-ec1a2481-34714-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/01-ec1a2481-34714-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/01-ec1a2481-34714-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/01-ec1a2481-34714-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/01-ec1a2481-34714-2.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000092554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55222"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55222"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}