Kigali, 22 July 2014

President Kagame today received a delegation of Equity Bank Group Board members who called to update him on progress of the bank, after three years operating in Rwanda. The Equity Bank Group Board is holding its retreat in Kigali.

After meeting President Kagame, the Equity Bank Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, James Njuguna Mwangi said the delegation updated President Kagame on achievements since the bank established in Rwanda in 2011:

“We have been quite successful in Rwanda and we wanted to update the President on progress of the promises we made to him when came to see him after our expansion into Rwanda three years ago, in addition to seeking his valuable advice and inspiration. Among other things, we have supported financial inclusion by posting agents at village level and boosted the payment system by issuing Autobranch Visa Cards in Rwanda. We are also planning to double our investments in Rwanda.”

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Claver Gatete commended Equity Bank for their innovations, especially the introduction of village bank agents to enhance financial inclusion and Visa Autobranch Visa Cards which would ensure money is retained in the banking system and be lent out to others to boost national development.