When Patience Mutesi, the Managing Director of BPR Bank Rwanda, says not every good idea deserves a loan, she isn’t being dismissive; she’s being brutally honest. “Banks are not built to fund ideas,” she told Sanny Ntayombya on The Long Form Podcast.
“We lend people’s deposits; we can’t afford to test unproven dreams.” It’s a sobering truth for Rwanda’s ambitious youth who believe a business plan alone should unlock financing.
Mutesi’s calm yet decisive tone carried both empathy and steel; the sound of a woman who knows how easily dreams and deposits can both vanish.
Access to finance, she admitted, remains one of Rwanda’s most misunderstood challenges.
She began with a reality check; banks are not venture capital firms. “Startups need seed funding, not bank loans,” she said, almost as a warning. She argued that most entrepreneurs misread the role of banks, which exist to protect depositors’ money and not to experiment with ideas.
But her admission also revealed a gap; while she acknowledged that banks cannot take on that risk, she offered no clear alternative beyond a general call for more venture capital. “Until we build that ecosystem, where innovation can be tested safely, banks will continue to play their traditional, conservative role,” she said.
She illustrated her point with a story about a young entrepreneur who approached her with an app idea for street vendors. “I asked him, how much money have you invested yourself? He said none. I told him, then why should I risk other people’s savings on something you don’t even believe in enough to back with your own resources?”
It was a fair point, but it also underscored a wider problem: that Rwanda’s financial system still offers few pathways for entrepreneurs who have vision but no collateral or personal savings.
For Mutesi, lending is both a matter of mathematics and psychology. “The first thing we assess is character,” she said. “Before capital or collateral, we ask: who are you? Do you pay your debts? Are you reliable?” BPR uses the five Cs of credit: character, capital, capacity, conditions, and collateral, but Mutesi insisted that the human factor outweighs any formula.
“We’ve seen people with perfect business plans fail because they lacked discipline, and we’ve seen small traders with no formal training thrive because they were honest and consistent.” She recalled a borrower who came with a proposal scribbled on paper torn from a school notebook. “He didn’t have spreadsheets, but he had a record of every sale for five years. That was better data than what some SMEs submit.”
When Ntayombya asked her what part of the job she finds hardest, Mutesi didn’t hesitate: “Foreclosures.” Her voice softened. “It’s the part I dread most. We don’t wake up to take someone’s home. By the time that happens, we’ve called, written, restructured — everything. It’s painful.” She spoke of a borrower who lost his job after taking a mortgage.
“He came to my office, desperate. We worked out a plan. Six months later, he found another job and cleared his arrears. That’s the side of banking people don’t see; it’s human, not mechanical.”
But she also admitted that banks often struggle to communicate compassion while enforcing rules. “We can’t protect one client at the expense of thousands of depositors; it’s cruel sometimes, but responsibility demands it.”
For Mutesi, running a modern bank feels like managing chaos. “It’s like running a marathon while dodging cyber bullets,” she said, listing her three biggest worries: cybersecurity, credit risk, and talent. “You never know when or where a cyberattack will hit. And because 90% of our capital is in loans, credit quality keeps me awake at night. But the scarcest resource today is people — finding, training, and keeping good talent in Rwanda’s small market.”
The admission revealed a weakness in the sector: the lack of a deep talent pool that could sustain the banking system’s rapid modernisation. “Losing one or two key people could disrupt continuity,” she said.
On the issue of foreign ownership, Mutesi pushed back on the perception that Rwandans have lost control of their banking system. “It’s simplistic to think that because ownership is foreign, Rwanda loses control,” she said. “All our lending decisions are made here; ninety percent of our credit committee is Rwandan.” Yet, her defense indirectly acknowledged dependence on foreign capital and technology.
“Being part of a larger financial group gives us access to systems and innovations we couldn’t afford alone,” she said. Her argument was pragmatic; however, it also exposed the uncomfortable truth that Rwanda’s financial system remains heavily reliant on external ownership for growth and modernisation.
Mutesi also addressed competition from telecom companies such as MTN and Airtel.
“Financial inclusion in Rwanda stands at 96%, but only 22% of that is through banks. The rest is through telecoms,” she said.
The statistics alone showed how far traditional banks have fallen behind. She admitted that telcos are ahead in speed and accessibility, but framed the future as one of convergence.
“We’re already working together; we offer Mobilon, a digital loan product built into mobile platforms. The lines between banks and telcos will blur; eventually, we’ll all operate under similar regulation.”
When asked what myths about money Rwandans should unlearn, Mutesi shifted from boardroom to personal wisdom. “Your choice of life partner will make or break your financial success,” she said.
“I’ve seen it countless times; a spouse can either be your greatest investor or your biggest liability.” She said many business failures stem from domestic conflict. “You can’t build wealth in chaos; if you don’t share values about money, saving, and ambition, no amount of income will fix that.”
Looking ahead, she sees Rwanda’s banking future in technology and people. “AI will help us process data faster, but leadership, empathy, and judgment will remain human,” she said. Yet her acknowledgement that “we’re late to the AI story” revealed another vulnerability; Rwanda’s banks are still playing catch-up in digital innovation.
Her advice to young Rwandans was both pragmatic and personal. “Be bold enough to talk about money, even in relationships. Don’t treat it as taboo. Learn how it works; respect it; and make it work for you and others.”
Patience Mutesi’s interview revealed a banker deeply aware of her industry’s limits; the rigidity of lending rules; the talent shortages; the dependency on foreign capital; and the digital lag. But she also came across as part reformer, part realist. Her message was clear: prudence is not fear, and discipline is not conservatism.
Banking, in her words, is about protecting dreams, not gambling with them.
