Bank of Kigali ordinary share capital. In 1967, the Bank commenced its operations with its first branch in Kigali. Belgolaise was a subsidiary of Fortis Bank (now defunct), operating in Sub-Saharan Africa but in 2005 began to withdraw from its operations in Africa in line with Fortis’ strategy. In 2007 the Government of Rwanda acquired the Belgolaise shareholding in Bank of Kigali, thereby increasing its direct and indirect shareholding in the Bank to 100% of the entire Issued Shares. In 2011, the Bank changed its name under the new law relating to companies from Bank of Kigali S.A to Bank of Kigali Limited.
Kigali it remained a relatively small city until the 1970s due to government policies restricting rural-to-urban migration. The population reached 115,000 by 1978, and 235,000 by 1991. The city lost a large fraction of its population during the 1994 genocide, including those killed and those who fled to neighbouring countries. From 1995, however, the economy began to recover and large numbers of long-term Tutsi refugees returned from Uganda. Many of these refugees settled in Kigali and other urban areas, due to difficulty in obtaining land in other parts of the country. This phenomenon, coupled with a high birth rate and increased