The update was shared on July 8, 2025, when the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Yusuf Murangwa addressed the Lower House of Parliament.
He noted that by August 2024, all 416 Umurenge Umurenge Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) had been digitized, and those in the districts of Nyarugenge, Gasabo, Kicukiro, Gicumbi, Rubavu, Rwamagana, and Nyamagabe had already been consolidated at the district level.
The ongoing integration of SACCOs is expected to eventually give rise to the Cooperative Bank, which will allow members to access their funds from anywhere and qualify for larger loans than those available through SACCOs operating at the sector level.
'We plan to complete the integration of SACCOs in all districts within this fiscal year [2025/26]. We have already merged SACCOs in seven districts; 23 remain. We are confident that by the end of this fiscal year, all remaining districts will have been integrated, and once that's done, we will launch the Cooperative Bank,' he said.
Murangwa explained that the establishment of the Cooperative Bank will run in parallel with the district-level SACCO consolidation.
'We don't want to wait until all districts are merged to begin preparing for the Cooperative Bank. We're pursuing both processes simultaneously so that by the time SACCO integration is complete, the Cooperative Bank will be ready to launch as well,' he noted.
'The timeline for merging SACCOs at the district level and setting up the Cooperative Bank is the same. If everything proceeds smoothly, both processes will be completed within this fiscal year,' Murangwa added.
Currently, members can withdraw their money from any location within their district, in areas where SACCOs have been merged at the district level.
As part of the process to establish the Cooperative Bank, district-level SACCOs are being integrated into a system overseen by the National Bank of Rwanda.
'These district-level SACCOs will be incorporated into a system called RIPPS, which will streamline payments and enable SACCO members to access their funds from anywhere in the country,' the minister noted.
Umurenge SACCOs were first established in 2008 to help residents across various parts of the country save money and access low-interest loans as a means of improving their livelihoods.
IGIHE
