Bank of Kigali million), with shareholders' equity of RWF:122.8 billion (US$143.7 million). On 29 September 2017, Global Credit Ratings affirmed Bank of Kigali Limited’s long-term and short-term national scale ratings of AA-(RW) and A1+(RW) respectively; with a stable outlook. The bank has won several back to back international and regional "Best Bank in Rwanda" awards, including from EuroMoney, The Banker, Global Finance Magazine, and EMEA Finance. The Bank was incorporated in the Republic of Rwanda on 22 December 1966. Initially Bank of Kigali was founded as a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda and Belgolaise, with each owning 50 percent of the
Kigali down near Kigali Airport. This was the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide, in which 500,000–1,000,000 Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu were killed in well-planned attacks on the orders of the interim government. Opposition politicians based in Kigali were killed on the first day of the genocide, and the city then became the setting for fierce fighting between the army (mostly Hutu) and the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). On 8 April, Rwandan government forces attacked the RPF base in the parliament building from several directions, but RPF troops successfully fought back. The RPF then began an attack from the north