‘We welcome you with a smile’ is the catchphrase Banque Commerciale du Rwanda (‘BCR’) uses on its customer website; a lack of banking provision in Rwanda along with the relative inexperience of some customers makes this friendly, approachable style a key differentiator for BCR.

Established in 1963 and headquartered in Kigali, today BCR is Rwanda’s second largest commercial bank with a market share of circa 25% and a seven branch network serving both commercial and retail customers. For the last two years, the bank has won the Global Finance award for Best Bank in Rwanda.

Actis became a controlling stakeholder of BCR in 2004; taking an 80% stake in the business with the Government of Rwanda retaining a 20% shareholding. Since then Actis has built on the bank’s strong heritage to grow both its corporate and retail arms, introducing new products and services to the market, including leasing, small and medium-sized enterprise lending and housing finance products.

The Actis investment team has worked closely with the bank to foster successful cost reduction strategies and has helped recruit individuals with both international and African banking experience into the BCR management team. Actis has partnered with this management team to improve corporate governance, train staff and improve systems and controls. A new Corporate Social Responsibility strategy has also swung into action: bringing banking education and accounting skills to local communities to encourage the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.