It was a historical and joyous day among Rwamagana residents as the 3rd edition of Rwanda Cycling Cup 2019 dubbed ‘ Rwamagana circuit’ went to the Eastern Province on Saturday 7th September 2019.
The race of which Cogebanque is a main sponsor kicked off at 9:30am with moderate rain with laps covering 3km track in Rwamagana town.
The race attracted hundreds of Rwamagana residents from different walks of life coming to witness the race close to their doors.
Rwamagana is among the districts where bicycles have a significant value in people’s daily lives as they are used for transport in the day to day activities.
Spectators were excited with all the riders’ competitiveness but drew special attention to their very own local cycling team based in Rwamagana, Les Amis Sportif sponsored by Cogebanque.
Eastern Province Governor, Fred Mfulukye; Rwamagana District mayor, Radjab Mbonyumuvunyi and Ferwacy President, Aimable Bayingana were also present from the beginning to the end of the race.
As the race came to an end, locals’ support paid off with the victory of Eric Muhoza from Les Amis Sportif emerging winner of the circuit in the men junior’s category using 1h 4min 57seconds covering 36km followed by his teammate , Jean Bosco Hategekimana.
Genevieve Mukundente from Benediction Club won the race in the women’s category while Moise Mugisha from Fly Cycling Club emerged winner in Men Elite&U23.
The excited Eric Muhoza said that the victory encouraged him to exercise more inorder to keep up strong competitiveness.
Cogebanque gave prizes to winners in both the men junior and elite categories.
Following the awarding ceremony, Antoine Iyamuremye, Cogebanque Head of Marketing and Product Development said that the race was exciting and pulled a big crowd.
He highlighted that it is very significant to the bank as it took place in Rwamagana where the Cogebanque sponsored team is based.
“The victory of a junior from our sponsored team induces pride that our efforts are not futile and we hope it will grow more talented cyclists,” said Iyamuremye.
“We also take this opportunity to remind residents of our mortgage loan and digital banking platforms. Residents can open accounts through Cogebanque agents deployed in different suburbs of Rwamagana as a pathway to accessing our top-notch services, grow financially and realize their dreams,” he added.
Cogebanque Mortgage Loan is a Home Loan which finances the borrower’s residential house purchase or renovation at an interest rate of 16%.
The provision of affordable homes is a key element of the country’s development blueprint, the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II), needed to support urbanization.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the demand for affordable housing in general is estimated at 560,000 units by 2020.
This requires construction of 93,400 units annually (or 7,780 units per month), the ministry indicates.
With Rwanda expected to be 35 per cent urban by 2020, it is critical to institute new initiatives to increase investments in the real estate development to bring more houses onto the market, particularly targeting the low market segment.
Cogebanque Mortage Loan comes in to support other stakeholders particularly the banking sector to fund housing projects.
Cogebanque sponsorships cut across different disciplines that include Cycling, Cultural and other CSR activities regarded as strategic avenues for engaging with communities and build talent across the region.
