Phase III Strategy 2021-2025

Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) is a Rwandan not for profit organisation established in 2010 by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in partnership with the Government of Rwanda. AFR is currently funded by FCDO, USAID, MasterCard Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). It is one of nine members in the Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Network across Sub Saharan Africa.

AFR’s strategic focus is to stimulate financial sector development by partnering with financial institutions and other stakeholders to increase access to and use of financial services. It is guided by the making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach recognising that efforts to increase financial inclusion must be carried out by market actors to be sustainable. AFR identifies and intervenes to address constraints that prevent the financial sector from serving Rwanda’s low-income population through promoting innovations and learning that result in sustainable change. Improving access to financial services for the rural poor, women and youth is of particular focus. AFR supports the Government of Rwanda’s development objectives by aligning its interventions to national policy frameworks including the Financial Sector Development Programme (FSDP) II, and the National Strategy for Transformation 2017-2024.

During Phase I (2010-2015) and Phase II (2016-2020) AFR played a pivotal role to facilitate positive change in Rwanda’s financial sector through its partnerships with the public and private sector leading to increased financial inclusion and enhancing livelihood opportunities for poor women and men.

This document summarises AFR’s Phase III strategy and covers the period 2021 to 2025. It builds on the outputs and achievements building markets for sustainable financial sector development from Phases 1 and II and is based on an analysis of constraints and opportunities informed by: