East African Business Week

KIGALI, RWANDA - Rwandans will have the chance to invest in Bank of Kigali (BK) when the bank issues 45% of its stock to the public.
Mr. Lawson Naibo, the Chief Operating Officer said in Kigali last week that BK's planned initial public offering (IPO) set for July will see investors take up to 45% shares of the bank.
The Rwandan government, which owns the bank, seeks to sell 25% to the public through Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE) to raise new capital for the bank and 20% to raise money to finance government expenditures.
Naibo could not disclose the targeted amount of money from the IPO saying it will be known after valuation of the bank's assets.
Rwanda Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, John Rwangombwa said recently that the government targets Rf25 billion (US$ 42 million) from the sale of its shares in BK and MTN Rwanda.
The government controls 10% of MTN Rwanda, with the balance owned by the South Africa based telecoms MTN Group.  
Rwangombwa said for the government to divest from the local leading telecom, it would have to sell its shares to MTN Group or list them on the stock exchange if MTN fails to buy them.
BK's expected IPO will be the second from a local firm after Bralirwa, the country's leading beer and soft drinks manufacturer floated 25% of government shares on the stock exchange early this year.
Recently, Bank of Kigali secured a $20 million line of credit from the French Development Agency to increase lending.
 The bank's management announced it would increase lending by 30% this year.  
The bank also targets higher net profit in the first three months of this year, owing to increased lending.
Rwanda is increasingly becoming attractive for foreign banks especially those from the East African region because of its low financial inclusion and high demand for capital among private businesses.  So far, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), the leading bank in the region has opened shop in Kigali and Equity Bank, another aggressive Kenyan bank has been licensed, according to Rwanda's central bank.
The Central Bank says more banks will raise competition, which is currently lacking to increase innovation and lower interest rates, which is one of the biggest challenges borrowers face in Rwanda.
The IPO is expected to attract more investors on the stock exchange, which has only three listed companies-Bralirwa, Kenya Commercial Bank and Kenya's Nation Media.