Are you a woman entrepreneur looking to grow your business with affordable, long-term financing?
The Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) has launched “Shabuka”, a new financing initiative designed to make access to credit easier for women-led and women-owned enterprises.
“Shabuka,” meaning Be Proactive, provides low-interest loans and flexible collateral terms to empower women in business. The program aims to increase women’s access to finance from 15% to 30% of BRD’s lending portfolio by 2028. In addition to loans, it offers business mentorship and capacity-building support to help entrepreneurs strengthen their management and financial skills.
The program includes the following features and benefits
- Affordable rates: Annual interest rate of 12%, significantly lower than the market average of 17%.
- Flexible repayment: Loan terms of up to 10 years, giving businesses room to grow sustainably.
- Reduced collateral: Only 15% collateral required, which can include the value of the funded project itself.
- Loan amount: Between Rwf 100 million and Rwf 2 billion, depending on project size and potential.
- Non-financial support: Business training, mentorship, and advisory services included.
To qualify for the Shabuka financing program, businesses must the following criteria:
- Be at least 40% owned or led by women.
- Operate in one of BRD’s priority sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, exports, energy, housing, education, transport, ICT, and the digital economy.
- Have an existing or projected annual turnover of at least Rwf 5 billion.
- Demonstrate a focus on growth, sustainability, and socio-economic impact.
- Businesses with other active loans are still eligible to apply, as Shabuka is intended to help expansion, not debt refinancing.
Interested entrepreneurs can apply by sending their applications to shabuka@brd.rw.
The program is part of BRD’s ongoing commitment to support inclusive economic growth by enabling more women to access the financing they need to scale their enterprises.