Africa-Press – Rwanda. Soraya Hakuziyaremye, 48, was appointed as the new Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) by President Paul Kagame, on February 25.
Hakuziyaremye, who served as the central bank’s deputy governor since March 2021, replaces John Rwangombwa who headed it since February 2013. Rwangombwa completed a maximum of two consecutive terms, six years each.
Before joining NBR, Hakuziyaremye served as minister of trade and industry, from October 2018 to March 2021.
The central bank is mandated to ensure price stability and a sound financial system. Price stability is achieved by conducting appropriate monetary policy in the interest of a stable macroeconomic environment while financial stability is achieved by regulating and supervising the financial system.
So, who is the new central bank governor? What is she passionate about? What are her hobbies, favourite meal, and more? In this interview with The New Times’ Emmanuel Ntirenganya, the banker talked about her childhood, career path, and life in general.
The excerpts:
As the first female Governor of Rwanda’s central bank, tell us about yourself.
I’m a Rwandan woman who was born in Belgium. I’m 48. And in those 48 years, obviously, I’ve lived in different countries, starting with Belgium, where I was born. Rwanda where I grew up, that’s where I did my primary school. When my parents came back to Rwanda, I was five at the time. [My] primary education was in a school called APE Rugunga [in Nyarugenge District] that was at the time a private school started by Rwandan parents.
I also did my secondary school here in Rwanda, at Ecole Belge – the Belgian School of Kigali – before going back to Belgium for university [education].
So, I would say that I have that double culture, but I was raised by parents who believed that the roots that we had, my siblings and I, were Rwandan roots.
I’ve never heard them speak to me in another language than Kinyarwanda. And even at the time when I didn’t speak the language, at least I understood it. And I’m also grateful to my parents for making sure that even when we were not living in Rwanda, the culture of Rwanda was with us. The history of Rwanda was with us.
And probably that had an impact on me when I started my career, to always know that I will come back home and use my knowledge to help build a nation.
What’s your university education background, experience?
On my academic background in university, I did what they call, in French, ingénieur de gestion. It’s an engineering programme that has, in the first two years, engineering classes, and then the last three years, it’s focused on business management. And I chose as an option [of] finance and also marketing. It was in a university in Brussels, a business school called Solvay Business School, which is part of one of the largest universities in Belgium – Université Libre de Bruxelles.
After those five years, I started working in banking. I’d always had a passion and ambition to do banking. So, I started in international banking, working for the Bank of New York in Brussels. Their European centre was based in Brussels, where I spent three years.
And then in 2004, 2005, I decided to go back to school. I went to a university in the US for a postgraduate programme in international management. So, I found myself in a small town called Glendale, the outskirts of Phoenix in Arizona, where I did a postgraduate degree in international management.
From there, I went back to the Bank of New York. I was promoted to a team leader position. And then after a few months, I had a better opportunity in the largest bank at the time in Belgium and Netherlands, called Fortis Group, where I worked for approximately six or seven years. But in the meantime, as I was working there, the bank was taken over by a bigger group – a French group called BNP Paribas. So, I found myself working in Paris. That was in 2011, 2012. And then I decided to come back home to Rwanda.
And I came back, worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MINAFET), as senior advisor to the minister. At the time, the minister was Honourable Louise Mushikiwabo, who is now the Secretary-General at La Francophonie [an institution, dedicated, since 1970, to promoting the French language and political, educational, economic and cultural cooperation among the 93 member countries of the International Organization of La Francophonie – OIF].
So, that was my first role in Rwanda, and also my first role in government.
And I learned a lot about not only Rwanda’s foreign policy, but also Rwandan public institutions. And it was an exciting time, because at the time, [in] 2012, Rwanda was running for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council of the United Nations. And it was, really, I think, an honour and a privilege to be part of the team that was involved in the campaign, which was successful, by the way, because Rwanda was elected to the Security Council in October 2012, I still remember, and for a two-year term.
So, with that experience, I think I gained an understanding of what Rwanda stood for, its ambition at the time we were implementing Vision 2020.
And after two years in that role, I thought that I still had a banking call. So I went back to finance, first by starting my own advisory firm to advise on investment opportunities in Rwanda and the EAC region, working with European and American investors.
I did this for two years until I was called by another global bank called ING in Belgium first, and then after a few months, they sent me to their subsidiary in London. So, that was 2016. And I spent two years in ING Bank in London, working for their financial market and financial institutions group, and as vice president in charge of counterparty risk, covering financial institutions.
What are your hobbies?
I think for any human being, it’s good to not only have a very fulfilling career, but probably you spend a lot of time working, but have time for other things as well.
I’ve always liked reading. I read books a lot. Maybe now, with the responsibilities that I’ve had since I joined, first, cabinet and then the central bank, one has less time to read. But it’s something that whenever I have time, I do. Reading books, fiction, non-fiction, and a lot of biographies.
I love music. I was a member of a choir in Belgium for 12 years. So, I love music; all types of music. But I was in a gospel choir. So, it’s something I don’t have, unfortunately, the opportunity now to be able to sing, but listening to music has always been a hobby.
Sports, gym and running, have always been part of my life. And I think, yeah, travelling and discovering the world.
Now I travel more for work than leisure, but I’ve always been interested in discovering other cultures, other countries, understanding how they see the world, their perspectives on different topics, and really mingling and knowing people from different backgrounds.
Anything you dislike, and why?
There are a lot of things that probably get on my nerves. But maybe something that I’m always trying to make sure that I avoid is being given an opportunity and not seizing that opportunity.
For me, it’s something that I always try to make sure that I don’t do.
And that’s something probably that I also dislike in people. People who take things for granted or feel that they’re entitled instead of really, sort of, building on opportunities they are given and making the best of them.
What interests you the most in your life?
I think probably, when I look at all my interests, I started by saying I was curious and passionate about knowing about banking. So, I’m a very curious person, so things that I don’t understand, they tend to attract me because I want to always expand my knowledge.
I’ve always also, I think, had a passion to understand people who have achieved a lot of things in their lives. That’s why probably I read a lot of biographies. And I think overall when you sum up, it’s probably trying to understand people who have made an impact on the world, or on Rwanda. How did they do it? So, it all sums up to how do you make sure that the life you lead makes a difference, it’s a purpose-driven life, as they say. And always looking at the bigger picture; how am I fitting in, how am I contributing?
So, being in Rwanda at this particular time, I think it really fits into what I always want. We have a very, very ambitious vision of becoming a high-income country. And for me, this is what drives me. Because I imagine myself or even our generation, if in 30 years we’re living in a high-income country, I think that will be the reward of our lives. So, I tend to work towards that goal.
Any food you like the most?
I’ve always, I would say, [been] inclined to Italian cuisine. So, anything pasta, you send it to me.
I also have a sweet tooth, so all types of desserts [everything sweet], I think I tend not to say no to them.
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