Bank of Kigali’s (BK), July 15th, launched an SME Centre that is tasked with delivering a range of products tailored to the specific needs of Small and Medium Enterprises.
The centre is also living up to the bank’s promise of easing pain and paying attention to the details that matter most to SME owners.
According to Diane Karusisi, CEO of BK Groyup, the bank came up with the centre after realising that they didn’t provide enough care to SMEs as much as they needed when Covid-19 hit.
They also discovered that around 80% are large businesses and that SMEs weren’t getting enough loans.
“In our research, we found out there is a gap concerning the loans SMEs need. We found out that we will need to inject 1 million USD to help them rise, and so we came up with this special centre to tackle that financial gap and we also know that SMEs take a big part of the country’s economy and employ many Rwandans,” she said.
Karusisi said that BK staff working at the centre were trained in how to support SMEs and help them thrive, and then turn into large organizations.
“We want them to work well. You’ve seen that many clients no longer go to the bank to pick cash. Many clients have adopted digital and cashless models. They just need advice. At this centre, they can talk to our staff and tell us their plans and we can see how we can help them to develop their businesses,” she said.
She said that every branch will have a special space for SME owners. This is where they can find an employee of BK who is specifically tasked with supporting them.
Faustin Kashugera is the owner of an SME that distributes BRALIRWA product and sees the centre to be a facility that will help him get the services he needs from the bank in a more supportive environment.
He pointed out that BK has many customers, so he would often find a long line at its headquarters and sometimes have to go back to get the service he wants, even if he had other urgent plans.
“But here,” he said. “A client will come and get someone to provide quick service because there are many rooms,” he said.
Darius Mukunzi is the Head of Department of SMEs at BK. He said that the centre will offer financial service such as loans and financial advice as well as non-financial, including training clients in tax declaration.
He said that the Bank had over 16,000 SME clients. He also noted that the centre can receive 50 at any one time.
The interior of the centre was designed by Dead Construction & Consultancy Company (DECOCO) led by Brighton Ruzibukira as Managing Director.
editor@newtimesrwanda.com
Source: rnewtimes
