Minister of Youth and Arts Development, Dr Abdallah Utumatwishima, says some artists are struggling to access financing available to help them develop their work.
Utumatwishima said many artists find it difficult to meet the financial requirements of banks when applying for loans, particularly when they are asked to provide records showing their previous earnings.
“An artist goes to a bank and presents their project and what they do, but the bank asks them to show how much they used to earn so that they can understand their financial profile,” he said.
The minister was speaking on Sept. 15 at a rural youth entrepreneurship forum organised by the Ministry of Youth and Arts Development in partnership with Caritas Rwanda.
He said another challenge was that some bank employees did not fully understand how businesses in the creative sector operate, which could affect how artists’ projects are assessed.
The ministry has asked BKreative and the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) to involve people with knowledge of the arts when assessing loan applications from artists, he said.
“We want artists’ applications to be assessed by artists or people who understand the arts, so that the project is evaluated from an artistic perspective rather than treated like any other business,” Utumatwishima said.
In April 2026, the ministry and BRD launched a financing facility intended to improve access to affordable financial services for young people and artists. Under the scheme, borrowers can access loans by providing collateral valued at 10% of the loan amount, at an interest rate of 9%.
The initiative followed the launch of BKreative by Bank of Kigali in partnership with the ministry, through which artists can access loans of up to Rwf1 billion without providing conventional collateral to develop their businesses.
The financing initiatives are part of efforts to improve access to capital for Rwanda’s creative sector, while the minister’s comments point to difficulties some artists face when seeking loans from financial institutions.
