AFI member institution National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) has made significant strides toward achieving its Maya Declaration Commitment, as evidenced by key data released in a recent survey from FinScope Rwanda 2012.

According to the FinScope 2012’s findings, formal financial inclusion increased from 21 per cent in 2008 to 42 per cent in 2012. This can be attributed to a dramatic rise in the proportion of adults formally served during that time span, and includes the uptake of products offered by both banks and non-bank formal providers such as UMURENGE SACCOs and insurance companies.

The improvement represents demonstrated progress on the path to the government’s target to have 80 per cent of the nation’s adult population with access to formal financial services by 2017 — a goal NBR outlined in its Maya Declaration Commitment at the 2011 Global Policy Forum (GPF) in Mexico.

The report also indicated financial exclusion rates dropped from a 2008 level of 52 per cent to 28 per cent in 2012.

Additionally, in 2012, 72 percent of Rwandan adults were financially included, 23 per cent  banked, 19 per cent non-bank formally served and 30 per cent informally included.

The ultimate goal of NBR’s financial inclusion strategy is to increase access to, uptake of and use of formal financial products and services provided by regulated financial institutions.