BK Group has donated KSh124.5 million to its charitable arm for philanthropic support of needy groups across Rwanda.
The Foundation will continue different charitable initiatives currently run under BK’s Corporate Social Responsibility unit.
“This foundation was inspired by the incredible work led by the first lady to touch the people of this country and beyond through the Imbuto Foundation,” said BK Group Chairman, Marc Holtzman, during launch of the BK Foundation.
BK Foundation will be headed by an Executive Secretary, Ingrid Karangwayire.
The seed capital was contributed by the Group’s four subsidiaries; Bank of Kigali, BK General Insurance, BK capital and BK techhouse; which set aside one percent of their net operating profit.
BK Group CEO Beata Habyarimana said all the Group’s CSR activities will be reorganized under the umbrella of the Foundation.
The CRS activities include paying medical expenses for the needy, providing coding and robotics classes to students, and granting access to finance for underserved women.
The Foundation will mainly focus on education, innovation, and environmental conservation.
“In education, we want to build a skilled workforce starting at the early stage with early childhood development centres, participate in market driven programs for technical and vocational skills in the schools, and a special touch on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths),” said Habyarimana.
Business startups offering financial technology innovations will be among the targeted beneficiaries through application and pitch competition.
Also under consideration are groups supporting environmental protection initiatives such as waste disposal and recycling, pollution management, water resource management, green space in urbanization, as well as connecting solar solutions in rural areas.
“Of course being a financial holding group we have a special focus on financial literacy, we’re also going to engage strong partners to support some key opportunities in Rwanda,” Habyarimana added.
Funding candidates will be identified through evidence-based data.
“We are making it easier for people to apply for support than to know the types of things that are necessary during the application process for support but I would add that we’re also trying to encourage the other banks, our competitors in the market to do the same because it’s the right thing to do,” she said.
