Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) and the Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa (The SGDC/A) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen financial inclusion and development in Rwanda.
The signing ceremony was held at the SDGC/A Office.
The partnership will facilitate a long-term collaboration between the two institutions based on their complementary interest and capacities. This reflects both parties’ willingness to work together on key matters related to promoting financial inclusion and financial sector development, which is vital to the achievement of Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST1), Vision 2050 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The MoU which was signed by the AFR Country Director, Mr. Jean Bosco Iyacu and Ms. Caroline Makasa, Acting Director General of The SDGC/A; is a formal agreement of mutual commitment and partnership between the two institutions towards strengthening financial Inclusion and financial sector development in Rwanda.
The new partnership will strengthen the development, adaptation, and delivery of the best practices, knowledge, technologies, and policies to contribute to the acceleration of financial inclusion and inclusive economic growth, which is a critical enabler for the attainment of the SDGs in Rwanda.
“We believe a robust and inclusive financial sector plays a very important role in facilitating the achievement of the SDGs and institutional collaboration as highlighted in SDG 17 on Partnerships for the goals is of paramount importance” said AFR country Director, Jean Bosco Iyacu.
He added that the collaboration with SDGC/A is timely as AFR enters a new five year strategy aiming to facilitate a diverse and inclusive financial sector that delivers real value to the economy and people, in particular unserved and underserved populations.
“Financial inclusion has been embedded in many of the SDGs, which underscore its critical importance that creates conditions for SDGs to be within reach. Given the increasing empirical evidence on the role of financial inclusion in the achievement of SDGs, it should get more priority than before. In this regard, the collaboration between AFR and the SDGC/A is a timely one that will contribute a lot in moving towards full and equal access to formal financial services for all in Rwanda” said Caroline Makasa, Acting Director General of the SDGC/A.
