Briefing Paper

Boosting Household Savings in Rwanda

The objective of this study is to identify the factors driving households’ saving in Rwanda. The approach uses mixed methods combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis consists of a factor analysis based on three nation-wide representative household surveys conducted between 2010 and 2017 (EICV3-4- 5, NISR). This secondary data analysis is complemented by a survey administered to 412 households during 2019-20, which collected information on new variables, mainly on saving behaviour not available in the national EICV surveys, but is not nationally representative. In addition, the qualitative analysis is based on key informant interviews with key stakeholders involved in savings promotion (e.g Minecofin, Bank of Kigali, SACCO) and focus-group discussions with citizens, which provide further insights on the policy challenges related to savings in Rwanda, what motivates households to save (what do they save for?), how they save, what are the challenges they encounter when saving and what are the drivers (or determinants) of saving, which enables us to further explore the saving behaviour of household in Rwanda.