But General Paul Kagame says he is turning Kigali into an international financial hub
General Paul Kagame aims to establish Kigali as an international financial hub. He launched the Kigali International Financial Center in 2020. How will he achieve this goal without banks? The largest bank in Rwanda is dwarf with a mere US$1 billion in assets. The Africa Report which examines the top 200 African banks by country, total assets, net interest income, loans, and deposits, shows Kagame’s fantasy. The only Rwandan bank that makes the list is the Bank of Kigali, ranked at 196 out of 200 African banks. According to Bank of Kigali’s 2019 annual report, its total assets amount to US$1 billion. The Africa Report ranks banks from the East African Community countries out of 200 top African banks are as follows:
- Burundi has 1 bank ranked at 53.
- Kenya has a total of 14 banks ranked at 42, 48, 52, 72, 82, 90, 98, 101, 113, 114, 127, 176, 182, 197.
- Rwanda has 1 bank ranked 196.
- Tanzania has 2 banks ranked 106, 112.
- Uganda has one bank ranked 158.
Kagame is making history by establishing an international financial centre in a country that doesn’t have banks. Previously, Kagame said he was turning Kigali into an African ICT hub. Then, he claimed he was turning Kigali into a logistics hub – in addition to making Rwanda a tourism hub. Stay tuned.
