Rwanda’s Prime Minister, Dr. Justin Nsengiyumva, has urged the private sector, especially in Rwanda, to take advantage of financing windows provided by the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Rwanda is one of the founding member states of TDB, which is now celebrating 40 years of existence during which it has provided funding worth $36 billion in the Comesa region.
Over these years, the Bank has extended over $1 billion in financing, supporting critical sectors including transport, aviation, infrastructure, and agriculture.
Among its notable contributions, TDB played a pivotal role in boosting
Rwanda’s export value chain, from funding the development of key
manufacturing industries to the financing of RwandAir, our national
airline and cargo carrier.
Other contributions include strategic investments in renewable energy and healthcare, such as the establishment of an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility.
Rwanda’s new Prime Minister, Dr. Justin Nsengiyumva
“I want to encourage our private sector to exploit these opportunities a
bit more because, as the president said, out of the $36 billion disbursed to the continent, Rwanda has only received $1 billion, and it is not good enough,” PM Nsengiyumva said.
The PM was speaking at the opening of the 2025 TDB Annual General Meetings and 40th Anniversary Celebration being held in Kigali this week.
The bank was equally hit by the financial crisis caused by COVID-19, recording a subdued loan portfolio growth from 15-20% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 3.4% in 2024. However, there was good news in its trade finance assets growing 57% Y-o-Y, reaching $222 million and generating a 10% return on USD assets.
Looking ahead, the PM said that the future appears promising, with projections estimating Africa’s growth to reach 3.9% in 2025 and 4.1% in 2026. For the TDB region, growth is expected to reach 4.3% and 5.1% respectively.
With this, the PM called for collective efforts to focus on three strategic priorities: scaling up investment in roads, ports, and energy infrastructure to boost intra-African trade, accelerating regional integration;
enhancing competitiveness through investment in green technologies and climate-resilient systems, and expanding support for small and medium-sized enterprises—especially those led by women and youth.
“This moment signals a turning point for our continent. It is a unique
opportunity to rethink how we build, trade, and grow by strengthening
our value chains and embracing deeper cross-border cooperation,” PM Nsengiyumva said.
The PM also congratulated the outgoing TDB President Admassu Tadesse and shareholders for the 40 years of remarkable accomplishments and restated Rwanda’s commitment to the bank’s vision to positively impact the region’s development.
Outgoing TDB President Tadesse said that since the bank has accumulated $58 billion in assets since inception, of which $55 billion of this amount happened in the last 15 years, there is hope to grow and influence development activities, especially with new innovations to attract strategic partners like the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), World Bank, and the Mastercard Foundation.
Rwanda’s Minister of Finance, Yusuf Murangwa, who will assume office as the new Chairman of the TDB Group, said that with $10 billion in financing project activities across the continent, TDB has been a trusted partner in Rwanda.
Murangwa said that the General Assembly will create new ambitions for the future and called for deepened collaboration with the bank to make this happen to build a resilient and integrated Africa.
The meeting also held a plenary session on “Navigating Africa’s future: trade, resilience, integration, and collaboration,” which brought together key global and African voices to reflect on Africa’s future in this multipolar world—how to mobilize capital, foster sustainable trade, and align finance with continental priorities like regional integration, infrastructure, and industrialization.
As part of its tradition and celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) in Kigali, the bank has offered financial support ($100,000) to Nyandungu Eco-park that will be used to plant more trees and maintain the environmental protection activities- which are in line with the bank’s development agenda.
