The bank will provide import letters of credit (LC) to importers dealing with unfamiliar foreign suppliers to act as extra assurance from a Rwanda-based bank.
BRD will also offer other trade finance solutions such as paying for supplier’s documents under LC or import collections, open account or invoice financing.
Traditional exports coffee and tea, among others, are also due to get a boost from the initiative as the BRD looks to use the facility to finance the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through export LC confirmation and pre-shipment export financing.
The BRD will also provide post-export finance, LC checking and negotiation and bills of collection.
The administration-heavy basis of trade finance is something that BRD wanted to address with the new facility, as Jack Kayonga, managing director of the bank, explains: “Trade finance is 80% documentation. We started up first of all as a way of making money as a bank, but more importantly we want to have a full package for our clients. “
Last Updated March 24, 2010
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