Rwanda’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently signed a deal to implement the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) platform Proxtera in Rwanda. As the successor to Business sans Borders, Proxtera uses artificial intelligence to streamline the way SMEs access financial and logistics services. This includes connecting buyers and sellers across domestic and foreign markets, digitalizing the entire transactional process. MAS and another Singaporean regulator, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), created Proxtera in partnership with India-based GlobalLinker, US-based Mastercard, UK-based Price Waterhouse Coopers, Germany-based SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing) and Singapore-based Yellow Pages.
MAS is Singapore’s central bank and acts as the regulatory body for the financial sector of the country. IMDA regulates the communications sector, focusing on promoting data protection as well as enterprise growth.
MINICOM is a unit of the Rwandan government focused on nurturing the country’s private sector, including by increasing the participation of Rwandan businesses in foreign markets.
By Eha Joshi, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
The New Times article on Business sans Borders (BSB)
https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda-and-singapore-boost-fintech-cooperation
Proxtera homepage
https://proxtera.com
MINICOM homepage
https://www.minicom.gov.rw
MAS homepage
https://www.mas.gov.sg
IMDA homepage
https://www.imda.gov.sg
IMDA profile on BSB
https://www.imda.gov.sg/programme-listing/BSB—Trade-without-Barriers
MAS press release about BSB’s proof-of-concept
https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2019/business-sans-borders-achieves-successful-poc-to-enhance-sme-access-to-trade-opportunities
MAS profile on BSB
https://www.mas.gov.sg/development/fintech/business-sans-borders
MAS 2018 media release on BSB
https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2018/business-sans-borders
BSB at Singapore FinTech Festival 2020
https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/speeches/2020/fintech-for-an-inclusive-society-and-a-sustainable-planet
Techwire Asia’s article on BSB
https://techwireasia.com/2019/12/how-singapores-business-sans-borders-will-benefit-smes-across-asia/
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