The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency and the National Bank of Rwanda have approved Aktif Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, to begin banking operations, resulting in the opening of Aktif’s first international representative office in Kigali, Rwanda. Aktif Bank will be able to expand its operations in the region due to this move.
Aktif bank, founded in 1999, provides debt financing services such as loans to small and medium-sized businesses. The bank’s primary business lines are corporate banking, investment banking, and private banking. Corporate banking services offered by Aktif include receivables financing, corporate finance, insurance, foreign trade and finance, corporate and commercial loans, financial leasing, and cash management. The expansion of its operations is based on its vision of becoming a global service provider.
“Aktif Bank intends to provide Turkish exporters with foreign trade solutions through correspondent banking,” said Muzaffer Suat Utku, Executive Vice President in charge of International Banking at Aktif Bank. “To that end, we are already working with over 350 African banks. It’s part of what we’ve tried to accomplish with the new Kigali representative office. Rwanda is an African country with enormous potential due to its geographical location, with its annual growth rate expected to be around 10% in the coming year.”
“We made our first expansion in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, because of its accessibility to other African countries, as well as the country’s stable political and economic environment,” Utku added. “We are pleased and excited to be the first foreign bank to open an office in Rwanda and to have opened our first international office in such a beautiful city.”
